ermintrude
Gold Member
I can't believe I've never come across this before! It's absolutely fab and so low in syns its insane! 
This whole pat of soft cheese is only 1.5 syns and tastes fab!
Its a middle eastern cheese made from strained yoghurt. It's fab! And so easy! You just mix some flavours and salt into your yoghurt and put it in the fridge in a lined sieve overnight - next morning you have cheese! And you can put whatever flavourings, spices, herbs etc you want in it. It's like a soft cheese such as Philadelphia but creamy and crumbly... kind of a cross between a soft cheese spread and a dry-er goat's cheese or Feta or something. Kinda like Boursin! :drool:
The original recipe asked for full fat yoghurt so I wasnt sure low fat would be any good but gave it a go anyway with Total 2%. Its so easy!
Ingredients:
- Low-fat Greek yoghurt (I used 500g Total 2%)
- Salt
- Spices/flavourings of your choice
- A muslin cloth, a bowl, a sieve/colander, a small plate and a full jar/tin to weigh it all down
Directions:
- Mix 1/2 tsp of salt per 500g yoghurt and whatever flavourings you fancy
(I used 500g Total 2% (1.5 syns), with 1 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds, 2 tsp dried chillies and a bit of freshly ground pepper. I'd use more spices next time but this is the first time I've done it).
- Get a muslin cloth, rinse, squeeze dry and line a sieve or colander with it. Place the sieve in a bowl to collect the whey. Then spoon your yoghurt mix in and fold over the top of the muslin:
- Now get a plate or bowl small enough to press down within the sieve, lay it on top and put a full jar or tin of something on top. (It doesnt have to be all that heavy, 400g is plenty).
- Pop it in the fridge for at least 12h, preferably overnight or even longer, depending how firm you want your cheese:
- (You can occasionally go and give it a squeeze to make sure whey is coming out. I only did this once and tbh mine is so firm & dry I dont think it needed it!)
- And voila! Just take it out of the cloth and you have soft cheese!
I'm having some of it on a warm lentil & rice salad with slow roast spicy tomatoes tonight, but you could use it on crispbread, with pasta, all sorts I imagine! You could mash it up and add garlic, herbs, lemon zest... the possibilities are endless!
Some of the flavours suggested in the book I've got include:
coriander or cumin seeds, dried chilli, chopped herbs, lemon zest, vanilla seeds, sugar, dried apricots (not all together! ) and there are loads more versions of it on the web if you google for labne recipes!
Ill definitely be trying this again with other flavourings! Next time garlic, a little lemon, and lashings of black pepper I think! :drool:
Yumtastic and only 1.5 syns for the whole lot with Total 2%. I dont know what it'd be like with fat free Total? Definitely worth finding out tho!
This whole pat of soft cheese is only 1.5 syns and tastes fab!
Its a middle eastern cheese made from strained yoghurt. It's fab! And so easy! You just mix some flavours and salt into your yoghurt and put it in the fridge in a lined sieve overnight - next morning you have cheese! And you can put whatever flavourings, spices, herbs etc you want in it. It's like a soft cheese such as Philadelphia but creamy and crumbly... kind of a cross between a soft cheese spread and a dry-er goat's cheese or Feta or something. Kinda like Boursin! :drool:
The original recipe asked for full fat yoghurt so I wasnt sure low fat would be any good but gave it a go anyway with Total 2%. Its so easy!
Ingredients:
- Low-fat Greek yoghurt (I used 500g Total 2%)
- Salt
- Spices/flavourings of your choice
- A muslin cloth, a bowl, a sieve/colander, a small plate and a full jar/tin to weigh it all down
Directions:
- Mix 1/2 tsp of salt per 500g yoghurt and whatever flavourings you fancy
(I used 500g Total 2% (1.5 syns), with 1 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds, 2 tsp dried chillies and a bit of freshly ground pepper. I'd use more spices next time but this is the first time I've done it).
- Get a muslin cloth, rinse, squeeze dry and line a sieve or colander with it. Place the sieve in a bowl to collect the whey. Then spoon your yoghurt mix in and fold over the top of the muslin:
- Now get a plate or bowl small enough to press down within the sieve, lay it on top and put a full jar or tin of something on top. (It doesnt have to be all that heavy, 400g is plenty).
- Pop it in the fridge for at least 12h, preferably overnight or even longer, depending how firm you want your cheese:
- (You can occasionally go and give it a squeeze to make sure whey is coming out. I only did this once and tbh mine is so firm & dry I dont think it needed it!)
- And voila! Just take it out of the cloth and you have soft cheese!
I'm having some of it on a warm lentil & rice salad with slow roast spicy tomatoes tonight, but you could use it on crispbread, with pasta, all sorts I imagine! You could mash it up and add garlic, herbs, lemon zest... the possibilities are endless!
Some of the flavours suggested in the book I've got include:
coriander or cumin seeds, dried chilli, chopped herbs, lemon zest, vanilla seeds, sugar, dried apricots (not all together!
) and there are loads more versions of it on the web if you google for labne recipes!Ill definitely be trying this again with other flavourings! Next time garlic, a little lemon, and lashings of black pepper I think! :drool:
Yumtastic and only 1.5 syns for the whole lot with Total 2%. I dont know what it'd be like with fat free Total? Definitely worth finding out tho!
