Ingredients

125 grams

full-fat coconut yogurt

1/2 tsp

traditional sea salt

juice of

one lemon

Recipe from Niki Bakes: "My oh my...step aside cream cheese, I just found my delicious dairy free soft cheese!! Being dairy free for about 15 years now has been an adventure because I stumble upon these new and awesome ways of creating thick and creamy dips and sauces.

I think the only thing I sometimes miss since giving up dairy is cream cheese. Thick lashings on some crispbread or as a base for cake frosting...it is missed!

The method to make my labneh is very simple, and you don’t need any special equipment. You’re essentially straining yogurt overnight to make a type of fresh ‘cheese.’

It is easier if you have cheesecloth, but for the labneh pictured I used 2 sheets of kitchen towel and it worked just as well, with a little extra squeezing.

Method

1. Line a bowl with a double layer of cheesecloth or 2 sheets of kitchen towel.
2. Stir together the yogurt, sea salt and lemon juice. Pour the yogurt into the lined bowl and place the bundle into a sieve. Make sure there is enough room at the base of the bowl for any liquid that will collect there. You can give it a gentle squeeze at this point to remove some water, but stop if yogurt starts to come out the sides of the fabric. Leave overnight.
3. Place the finished labneh into a bowl, and mix it with a spoon to make it evenly creamy and smooth. Top it with some freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt. Serve as is or as a base for side dishes as shown here. Topped off with small chorizo pieces and crisped kale. Perfection.