This is one I serve as appetizer lately, but it's also good tucked into a sandwich or served as a side part of a larger meal. There are a few variations as how to prepare labneh. I simply strain plain whole yogurt for a few hours, without any seasoning. This way I can use it for savoury recipes like this one, but also add a spoonful to a sweet cake. Here the labneh is topped with roasted fennel, but it works just as well with roasted carrots or confit cherry tomatoes, and is delicious simply topped with zaatar and a generous drizzle of very good olive oil. The creaminess and neutral taste of labneh makes it fit is so many recipes.
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Ingredients
500g plain whole yogurt
1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp honey
olive oil
1 tsp capers
1/2 tsp preserved lemon, chopped
zest of lemon
For the zaatar
60g sesame seeds
40g sumac
10g dried oregano
a pinch of salt
Start by straining the yogurt is a cheesecloth. The longer you strain the yogurt, the thicker your labneh will be. I usually leave it overnight, but have also left it just a couple of hours if time was missing.
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Half or quarter the fennel, then thinly slice. Transfer to a lined baking tray with the garlic and season with salt and pepper and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Mix well together to coat the vegetables with the oil and spread out on the baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes, then add the honey, give it all a good stir and spread out again, bake for a further ten minutes. Leave to cool on the baking tray.
While the fennel is baking, prepare the zaatar. Toast the sesame seeds for 2 minutes in a dry frying pan and then combine with the remaining ingredients. I grind them just a little in a mortar and pestle to enhance the flavours. This quantity will make more than you need, you can store the rest in an air-tight container at room temperature.
Transfer the fennel into a bowl, add the capers and preserve lemon and mix together.
Spread the labneh into a shallow bowl, top with the fennel, a tablespoon zaatar and a generous drizzle olive oil. Use a microplane to zest over some lemon zest. Serve with flatbread, focaccia or some good crackers.
