Labneh with Za'atar, Olive Oil, and Warm Flatbread
Strained yogurt, the Levant's gift to breakfast
Contents
Labneh with Za'atar, Olive Oil, and Warm Flatbread
Ingredients
- 750g full-fat natural or Greek yogurt (live, not low-fat)
- 0.75 tsp fine salt
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated (optional)
- 3 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil, plus more for storing
- 2 tbsp za'atar
- A squeeze of lemon (optional)
- For quick flatbreads: 250g plain flour
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
- 150g natural yogurt
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for cooking
Method
- Stir the salt (and grated garlic, if using) into the yogurt. Line a sieve with a double layer of muslin or a clean tea towel and set it over a bowl.
- Tip in the yogurt, fold the cloth over the top and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, until thick and spreadable like soft cream cheese. Longer gives a firmer, drier labneh.
- For the flatbreads, mix the flour, salt and baking powder, then stir in the yogurt and oil to a soft dough. Knead briefly until smooth, then rest for 15 minutes.
- Divide into 6 pieces and roll each thinly. Cook in a hot dry or lightly oiled pan for 1 to 2 minutes a side, until puffed and charred in patches.
- Spread the labneh over a plate or shallow bowl, making swooshes with the back of a spoon.
- Drizzle generously with olive oil and scatter over the za'atar. Add a squeeze of lemon if you like.
- Serve with the warm flatbreads alongside, for scooping and tearing.
If you have ever wished yogurt could be a meal rather than a side note, labneh is the answer, and it is almost embarrassingly easy. You salt some good yogurt, hang it in a cloth overnight, and the next morning the whey has drained away to leave something thick, tangy and rich, halfway between yogurt and soft cheese. Spread it on a plate, flood it with olive oil and snow it with za’atar, and you have one of the great breakfasts of the Levant. My one quiet twist is grating a tiny bit of raw garlic into the yogurt before it strains, so the whole thing carries a low savoury hum that plays off the lemony za’atar. Make the flatbreads to scoop it and you will not miss anything else on the table.
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