Well, after making the batch of labneh the other day, I now had to figure out what to do with it other than scarf it down with fresh pita bread.  Here’s a photo of the bucket (the olive oil is actually not quite that yellow – I was having problems getting a good photo because it was dark and the kitchen lights are terrible) and each ball is about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Labneh preserved under thyme & garlic scented olive oil

Labneh preserved under thyme & garlic scented olive oil

Well, the same afternoon as I made these babies, I saved a few and plopped them on top of my ham, mozarella, roasted pepper and olive pizza, crossing each ball with some anchovies.  The labneh bakes to a fairly firm consistency and it was DELICIOUS!  A definite thumbs up from me!

Yesterday, I had it on bread with some smoked salmon and it was perfect.  Very creamy but tastier than cream cheese would ever be.

It was so good that I decided to try my first ever ravioli.  I made a batch of fresh pasta dough (recipe here) and rolled it out into sheets, mixed some labneh with smoked salmon diced very finely, some dill, a bit of garlic and salt, and dotted this mix onto the sheets, covered with the spare sheets and used my trusty old pastry cutter to cut the ravioli squares.  Then, while these were drying a little in the fridge, I made a quick arribiata sauce (diced onion, garlic, 1 small chilli, white wine, tomato sugo, seasoning to taste).  I quickly boiled the ravioli in salty water for 3 minutes, slung them into the sauce with some chopped parsley and The Husband and I devoured them.  Alas, I wasn’t quick enough to take a photo, but I’m trying this again shortly.  DAMN, but it was GOOD!  Even if I say so myself, if I’d ordered this in a restaurant I would have been extremely happy.

Anyways, the rest of the labneh can sit safely in the fridge while I think of other delicious things to do with it.