Local Bay Area author Cheryl Sternman Rule provides instruction for this simple yogurt cheese in her book Yogurt Culture: A Global Look at How to Make, Bake, Sip, and Chill the World’s Creamiest, Healthiest Food.
Ingredients
- 4 cups plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
About this recipe
Local author, Cheryl Sternman Rule provides instruction for this simple “cheese” in her book Yogurt Culture: A Global Look at How to Make, Bake, Sip, and Chill the World’s Creamiest, Healthiest Food. The book is filled with many yogurt-fueled recipes, including an easy to make yogurt cheese, also called labneh. All you’ll need is two ingredients—yogurt and kosher salt.
Author Cheryl Sterman Rule writes: Here are two methods for turning yogurt into the thick, creamy, spreadable Mediterranean and Middle Eastern “yogurt cheese” called labneh. If you think of Greek-style yogurt as strained yogurt, think of labneh as ultrastrained yogurt. Labneh is strained either under weight (or compression) or by hanging. I provide both methods below. While labneh is traditionally strained at room temperature, I’m more comfortable straining it refrigerated.
Instructions
Method 1
Set a colander in a large, deep bowl. Line it generously with cheesecloth (with plenty of overhang), a nut milk bag, or two large crisscrossed paper towels that cover all the holes in the colander and hang generously over the sides. Mix the yogurt with the salt and scrape it into the colander. Cover gently with the overhang (or pull the bag’s drawstring closed). To compress, set a pot lid slightly smaller than the colander’s diameter on top of the cloth-covered yogurt. Cast iron is ideal because it’s naturally heavy, but you can use a stainless-steel lid with a few cans on top. Cover the top of this apparatus with plastic wrap.
Method 2
You may also create a hanging apparatus. (This is far easier with a nut milk bag than with cheesecloth and impossible with paper towels.) After filling the bag with the salted yogurt, tie the drawstring to the center of a wooden spoon’s handle, so that the top of the bag is close to the handle. Balance the spoon over a deep bowl or jug. The yogurt-filled bag must hang clear of the bottom by several inches so the whey has someplace to accumulate.
For Both Methods
Refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours, until 1¼ to 1½ cups whey have drained away and you’re left with thick, spreadable yogurt cheese. When your labneh is ready, transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate until needed. Labneh will keep for 10 days to 2 weeks.
If your labneh is lumpy, whisk in a touch of cold water to smooth it out.
