Labne with Nutty Cumin Dukkah and Pita Chips

My friend Gabrielle made her own yoghurt and posted the "How to" on her lovely blog Eat Cook and Love. It got me thinking about labne, which is a change from thinking about shampoo and New York in the '60's.

NOTE: Start the labne at least the day ahead. The dukkah can be made and frozen. I used this dukkah recipe because it's one of my favourites. I have repeated the recipe below so you don't have to keep switching screens to get the whole recipe. See, I'm always thinking of you... when I'm not thinking of labne and hair products and catching up with my best buddy Joan on Madison Avenue that is.


Labne with Nutty Cumin Dukkah and Pita Chips
Serves 4

For the Labne:
1 litre thick Greek yoghurt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil for drizzling

For the Dukkah:
1 cup natural almonds
1/2 cup hazelnuts
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
1 teaspoons flaked sea salt

For the Pita Chips:

2 large wholemeal pita breads

Make the Labne:

Pour the yoghurt into a double thickness of cheesecloth and tie up with string to make what my kids called a "Huckleberry Finn package".

Tie the bundle onto a piece of dowel or one of the shelves in your refrigerator, suspended over a bowl. The idea here is that the liquid in the yoghurt separates from the solids (curds and whey - keep the curds, chuck the whey. I'll resist the urge to make a reference to Little Miss Muffet... I think I just made a reference to Little Miss Muffet), making the yoghurt super thick and luscious. 

Leave it to drain for at least 24 hours. I left mine for about 48 hours.

When ready to eat, throw away the liquid that has collected in the bowl, cut the string and open the cheesecloth. Empty the thick yoghurt cheese out into a bowl and give it a good stir. It will be creamy and spoon-lickingly-good. But wait... there's more. Sprinkle with Nutty Cumin Dukkah, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and serve with pita chips.

Make the Pita Chips:

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C.

Split the pitas in half so that you have four thin circles of bread. Lay them in a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until they are just starting to colour. They will crisp up as they cool.

Make the Dukkah:

Preheat oven to 180°C fan forced.

Spread the hazelnuts on one baking tray and the almonds and cumin, coriander, fennel and sesame seeds on another tray and roast in oven about 10 minutes or until toasted. Transfer hazelnuts to a clean tea towel and rub nuts in tea towel to remove as much of the hazelnut skin as possible; cool.

Tip everything into a food processor and process to form fine crumbs.