“Drained yoghurt, or labne, is at its best in spring when milk is at its most plentiful,” says Rodney Dunn. “Dollop it on salads, make dressings or make it the base of a dish such as this.”
Start this recipe a day ahead to drain the yoghurt.
Ingredients
Pickled onion
Method
Main
1.For labne, place yoghurt in a fine sieve lined with muslin placed over a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight to drain.
2.Preheat oven to 180°C. Place large beetroot in a small roasting dish. Combine salt and eggwhite in a bowl, then add enough water to form a paste the consistency of wet cement (about 60ml). Cover beetroot completely with salt paste and roast until tender (2-2¼ hours). Cool, then remove crust, peel and cut into thin wedges.
3.For pickled onion, combine onion and salt in a bowl and leave for 1 hour. Rinse salt from
onion, drain well, then cover with cider vinegar and leave to pickle for 1 hour. Pickled onion will keep refrigerated for up to a week.
4.Blanch peas until bright green in a saucepan of boiling salted water (1-2 minutes), then drain and refresh under cold running water.
5.Season drained yoghurt to taste. Divide among bowls, arrange salt-baked and sliced beetroot on top, then scatter with peas and pickled onion. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with sourdough bread.
