Griddled courgette salad on labneh
Make the most of the late summer harvest with this simple salad. I love the contrast of the creamy labneh and salty dressing. If you are eating a meaty meal, you could make a soya yoghurt tahina sauce to sit the courgettes on. Or serve them as they are. If you do make your own labneh, you’ll need to start that the day before serving.
Serves: 4 Preparation: 10 minutes Cooking: 15-20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
4 large courgettes, cut lengthwise in ½cm-thick slices Olive oil (3-5 tbsp approx) Mint, a small bunch, leaves only 2 anchovies, drained (rinsed if salted) and finely chopped 2 tbsp capers (rinsed if salted) and fried in olive oil until crisp 1 lemon, zest and juice 250ml (approx) labneh, homemade or shop-bought (or Greek yoghurt)
For homemade labneh (makes 480ml)
1kg full-fat plain yoghurt
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
METHOD:
To make the labneh, take a long piece of muslin or a clean, thin tea-towel, and use it to line a large sieve, set over a bowl. Stir the tsp of salt and up to 1 tbsp of lemon juice (to taste) into the yoghurt. Pour it into the lined sieve, and refrigerate for about 8 hours so the whey can drain out. When it is thick but spoonable, scrape labneh into a lidded container and refrigerate until needed. (It will keep for up to a week in fridge.) Dispose of drained-off whey.
Heat a griddle pan or barbecue and brush the courgettes lightly with olive oil.
Cook both sides until softened with black ridges. Try not to disturb them while they cook, to help the char lines form.
Chop the mint leaves and mix with the finely chopped anchovies, crisp capers and lemon zest. Add some olive oil to create a loose paste.
Spread half the labneh on a serving plate, top with the courgettes then sprinkle over the mint/anchovy/caper mixture. Squeeze over some lemon juice and season to serve. Watch the salt as you have salty ingredients in there.
Leftover labneh is delicious spread over bread or as a dip.