Tart London: How to make labneh and roasted carrots

Labneh is a word we see more and more frequently on menus these days. It is simply yoghurt, strained, so that it becomes thicker while retaining the sour yoghurt taste. Labneh is super simple to make.

Perch a cheesecloth or muslin-lined sieve over a bowl, then pour in Greek yoghurt that has been stirred with a little salt and a squeeze of lemon. Tie the ends of the cloth together and leave to strain for up to 24 hours. When we’re in a rush, we speed up the process by squeezing the bag to help hurry the liquid (whey) out. This makes the labneh softer, but still perfectly acceptable.

We often serve labneh as part of a mezze platter, spooned into a pretty bowl with a scattering of zaatar and drizzled with good quality olive oil. It’s perfect for dunking crunchy vegetables and warm pitta bread into. Here we’ve turned it into a lovely side dish that would be perfect served alongside chicken or lamb.

We’ve been so excited about harvesting our carrots this year — back in spring we planted seeds not just for ordinary orange but for multi-coloured carrots, too. And sure enough, when we pulled them from the soft soil there were orange, yellow, white and purple kinds. They’re great fun for adding colour to your Sunday roast. We planted Unwins carrot rainbow mix seeds, but you can buy your carrots ready grown at specialist greengrocers (our local, Parkway Greens in Camden, stocks them) or farmers markets. Try to get young ones, as they’re sweeter and more delicate.

For the labneh:

1kg natural yoghurt

1 tsp salt

Squeeze of lemon juice

For the carrots:

300g multicoloured baby carrots

1 garlic head, separated

3 tbsp olive oil

3 sprigs of thyme, stalks discarded

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp dried chilli

2 tsp zaatar

Salt and pepper

For the dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

Juice of one lemon

1 tbsp maple syrup

Salt and pepper

To serve

Small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

2 red chillies, thinly sliced