Tangy Labneh with Spicy Tomato
Tangy Labneh with Spicy Tomato is an easy and delicious way to create a relaxed sharing plate dining experience. Labneh is a tangy Lebanese cream cheese made from greek yogurt. Topping the Labneh with a Spicy Tomato paste injects life and colour into this dish and is the perfect partner to the cool cream cheese.
Contents
Make your own cream cheese
Labneh is really easy to make. You simply mix salt with fat free greek yogurt and leave it to strain at room temperature for 24 hours. Being made from fat free greek yogurt makes it a lighter meal and like other fermented foods is good for gut health.
The spicy tomato paste is bursting with flavour. Made from fresh chilies, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and spices it really packs a punch and works well with the cream cheese. It’s as simple as blitzing all the ingredients together in a food processor. You can choose to use a store bought harissa paste if you prefer.
I serve with a fresh Tomato Salad (recipe below), olives and warm pita breads. You could add extra sides such as some grilled chicken or a couscous salad, to serve more people.
I started making Labneh about a year ago. I purchased a yogurt maker last year and I became obsessed with making yogurt. I wanted to find more ways to make the most of my yogurt maker and increase my fermented food to boost my gut health. You don’t need to have a yogurt maker to make Labneh. Store-bought Greek yogurt works just fine. You will need either some muslin or cheese cloth to strain the cheese.
I love the relaxed sharing small plate style of eating. You can prep it all in advance so there is no messing when your guests arrive and it creates a laidback dining experience. I’ve served this a couple of times and people always rave about it.
Wine and Cheese Christmas Eve
We have Wine and Cheese Christmas Eve every year and I plan to serve Tangy Labneh with Spicy Tomato this year. We will be travelling on Christmas Eve this year and I will have little time on Christmas Eve to prepare food. The labneh and spicy tomato paste can all be made in advance and thrown together in minutes, making it the perfect dish to serve when you are tight on time.
My Tangy Labneh and Spicy Tomato is also good served as part of a buffet or on warm summer evenings, it’s very versatile.
This recipe brings me a lot of joy, I hope you love it as much as I do.
Tangy Labneh with Spicy Tomato
Tangy Labneh with Spicy Tomato
Equipment
- Cheese cloth or muslin
Ingredients
Labneh
- 500 g fat free greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
Spicy Tomato
- 6 sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 1 medium heat chili stalk removed and deseeded
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- 1 tsp tomato puree
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- juice of half a lemon
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds ground
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
To Serve
- Warm pita bread
- Olives
- toasted flaked almonds
- fresh chopped mint
- drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
- sprinkling of paprika
Instructions
Labneh
- Labneh takes 24 hours to mature and lasts for 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. You will need to start the labneh at least the day before.
- Stir the sea salt into the greek yogurt. Pour into a sieve lined with cheese cloth/muslin and place over a cereal sized bowl. Ensure the bottom of the sieve sits just above the base of the bowl. After a few hours the whey that drains from the yogurt should be touching the sieve. This will control the amount of whey that drains from yogurt, creating a labneh with a velvety texture. For a thicker lebneh use a large bowl to ensure the whey is allowed to drain freely from the yogurt.Â
- Cover and leave to one side for 24 hours. If your kitchen is really warm you will want to move your yogurt to a cooler place to mature.Â
- When the labneh has matured, tip into a bowl and stir with a spoon until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Spicy Tomato
- To make the spicy sun-dried tomato paste add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz until smooth. This is really easy and fast to make so I make it on the day. It will last 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge so you could make ahead of time.
To Serve
- Tip the labneh onto the centre of a plate. Use the back of the spoon to spread out roughly and create a small well in the middle for the tomato paste. Do not smooth out the lebneh, you want to create little wells for the olive oil to pool in.Â
- Spoon the tomato paste into the little well in the centre of the labneh.Â
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and scatter with toasted flaked almonds and chopped mint.
- Serve with the tomato salad, warm pita breads and olives.Â
Notes
Tomato Salad
Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 400 g mixed tomatoes roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 6 fresh mint leaves chopped
- small bunch of parsley chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the chopped tomatoes into a salad bowl. Whisk the extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, fresh herbs and salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Pour the vinaigrette over the tomato and stir to ensure all are well coated.Â
Notes
A lively tomato salad made with ripe tomatoes and fresh herbs.
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