Labneh - strained yogurt cheese

Anyone else make Labneh?  I just discovered it by accident.  I have eaten it several times in the Middle East but didn't know that is what it was.

I do not eat any american cheeses due to the added growth hormones, antibiotics, etc in the milk - so I was always buying expensive cheeses from europe.  And no wonder they are expensive; I tried my hand at cheese making using raw milk a couple of times and I now appreciate why it costs so much.

I discovered the Labneh when I was straining some organic yogurt to make tzatziki but then forgot about it for a couple of days.  When I took it out of the container is was this wonderful creamy ricotta like cheese.  It is good on toast, in omelets, in lasagna.

  Now I am on a roll, have some straining now with chives and minced dried tomato.  This is so easy even I can do it.

Definitely and it is usually far better than the bought cheese! You also get to choose your own flavours from traditional thyme through to chives, mint, sumac and much more. Very easy to do and quite cheap, particularly if you are producing your own yoghurt.