There is something deeply satisfying about making something rather splendid from a pot of yoghurt and a little patience.
Labneh is one of those preparations that reminds us how little good food actually requires. Yoghurt, salt and time. Nothing more. Left to strain slowly, the yoghurt becomes thick, rich and beautifully tangy, with a texture somewhere between soft cheese and cream.
The secret is not to interfere. Allow the yoghurt to do what it does naturally, and the result will reward you handsomely.
What happens afterwards is another matter entirely. A few vegetables, a little olive oil and an arrangement that might, with some imagination, resemble a rather extravagant porcupine.
Method
1. Begin with the yoghurt.
Stir the salt into the yoghurt until evenly combined.
Line a fine sieve with a clean muslin cloth or several layers of cheesecloth and place it over a deep bowl, ensuring there is sufficient space beneath for the whey to collect.
Spoon in the yoghurt, fold the cloth gently over the surface and refrigerate for 18–24 hours.
There is no need to press or hurry it. Time will do the work perfectly well.
2. Attend to the consistency.
Once strained, the yoghurt should be thick, smooth and capable of holding its shape on a spoon.
For a softer labneh, 18 hours may be sufficient. For something firmer, allow the full 24 hours.
Transfer to a bowl and stir gently until smooth. Taste for seasoning. It should be pleasantly tangy, with just enough salt to bring out the flavour.
3. Prepare the vegetables.
Wash the radishes and slice them as thinly as possible, preferably using a mandoline. They should be almost translucent, delicate enough to bend without breaking.
Trim the sugar snap peas and cut each one in half crosswise. Keep the pieces neat, with their natural shape intact.
The vegetables should be crisp, fresh and impeccably prepared. There is nowhere to hide when so little is being done to them.
4. A little architecture.
Spoon the labneh generously onto a large, shallow serving plate, spreading it into a thick, even circle with the back of a spoon.
Now for the arrangement.
Working from the centre outwards, stand the halved sugar snap peas and delicate slices of radish upright in the labneh, placing them closely together at slightly different angles.
Allow the vegetables to rise from the surface in a lively, irregular fashion, rather like the quills of a particularly well-dressed porcupine.
There should be height, movement and a little deliberate disorder. Resist the temptation to make everything perfectly symmetrical.
5. The finishing touch.
Tuck the little pink edible flowers between the vegetables, allowing them to sit naturally among the radishes and peas.
Season lightly with flaky sea salt and a little freshly ground black pepper.
Finish with a generous pour of DRAW Finishing Extra Virgin Olive Oil, allowing it to settle around the vegetables and into the labneh beneath.
Serve immediately with warm flatbread or good crusty bread.
The last word
A dish such as this is a reminder that presentation ought to begin with the ingredients themselves.
A radish, sliced finely enough, becomes almost translucent. A sugar snap pea needs little more than a clean cut to show off its natural shape and colour. Neither requires much assistance to look beautiful.
But beneath all that garden frivolity, the labneh must be properly made. Thick enough to support the vegetables, smooth enough to spread generously onto warm bread, and seasoned with care.
The olive oil is essential. Its richness softens the acidity of the yoghurt and brings a little generosity to every mouthful.
As for the arrangement, one could simply scatter the vegetables over the top and be done with it.
But where would be the pleasure in that?
Occasionally, a little unnecessary effort is precisely what makes something memorable.
And if the finished dish happens to resemble a rather ridiculous porcupine, so much the better.
