Food & Home Entertaining

IN SEASON
Milk tart-flavoured
sweet labneh with
orange-poached pears
Soft labneh can easily be turned into
a sweet treat by adding some honey
and sweet spices. It is so easy and
deliciously creamy!
Serves 4 EASY 45 mins + 8 hrs or
overnight, to strain
THE FLAVOUR COMBINATIONS
SWEET LABNEH
1,5kg plain yoghurt
60g icing sugar
10ml (2 tsp) vanilla essence
pinch salt
2,5ml (½ tsp) ground cinnamon
honey, to sweeten
ORANGE-POACHED PEARS
1L (4 cups) orange juice
100g brown sugar
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1 cinnamon stick
4 (about 800g) large pears, peeled
handful pistachio nuts, finely
chopped, to serve
ground cinnamon, to garnish
HOW TO DO IT
For the labneh, combine the
1 yoghurt, icing sugar, vanilla
essence and salt. Pour into a strainer
lined with a cheesecloth or piece of
muslin cloth and set over a large jug or
mixing bowl that will catch the water.
Refrigerate to strain, at least 8 hours
or overnight.
2
Once strained, stir the cinnamon
into the creamy labneh that is left
in the cheesecloth. Discard the liquid.
Sweeten to taste with the honey.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
For the pears, bring the orange
3 juice, brown sugar, vanilla seeds
and cinnamon stick to a boil. Turn the
heat down to a gentle simmer, add the
pears and cook, 15 minutes. Flip the
pears over and simmer until tender,
15 – 20 minutes. Remove from heat
and allow the pears to cool down in
the orange-juice mixture.
To serve, spoon the pears onto
4 the labneh and garnish with the
pistachios and cinnamon. Serve the
cold orange syrup on the side.
COOK’S TIPS
Reduce your cooking time
by halving the pears before
simmering in the orange
liquid. Instead of nuts, you
could crumble over broken
meringue pieces, peanut
brittle or biscuits – they will
also add a lovely bit
of crunch.
MILK TART-FLAVOURED SWEET LABNEH WITH ORANGE-POACHED PEARS
foodandhome.co.za JUNE 2016 57