Dear Labneh,

You have been good to me. You've filled my stomach on lazy days, you've kept me going on those darker days, you've been there when I've needed you. I still remember the first embrace when everything I ever needed to know was conveyed with that very first mouthful. You make my dreams come true.

















I love you.

















Ingredients
Greek style yoghurt
a pinch of salt
extra virgin olive oil
dried mint

















Method
Mix the salt with the yoghurt. Pour the yoghurt into a clean muslin cloth and hang it up somewhere safe to strain overnight. This process gets rid of the whey and thickens the yoghurt even further (so Greek style will produce even more beautifully thick labneh). It's even better if you can find space in your fridge to hang the cloth but it's not that detrimental to leave it at room temperature. Once no more water comes out of the yoghurt you should empty the contents of the cloth into a bowl. You can serve it without anything else but it's more traditionally served with a good helping of extra virgin olive oil and dried mint. Once you've tried your own home-made labneh you'll be in love too.

It may come as a surprise to those who don't live in London that it does, in fact, have four seasons. And no I'm not talking about the hotel chain. And no those seasons aren't just four shades of grey. It's somewhat excusable to have held that belief in the immediate past when for nigh on three years the British summer never took flight so we all...took flights. This year, though, we're at the tail-end of a heatwave and everyone is searching for a way to cool down. This recipe is a reworking of a Lebanese classic known as shishbarak, which has nothing to do with skewered meat or the US President. This recipe also requires very little work, so you have no reason to suffer in the heat this summer. I think I see a raincloud overhead...

















Ingredients
Soup
one pot bio yoghurt
75-100ml of water
a tablespoon of dried mint
some chopped parsley
however many crushed garlic cloves you fancy
olive oil
salt and pepper

Pasta parcels
a basic dough (flour, water, salt, olive oil)
3 shallots
2 teaspoons pinenut
a pinch of allspice
a pinch of mint
rapeseed oil
salt and pepper

















Method
Pasta Parcels
Make the dough and roll to about 1cm thickness and cut circles about an inch in diameter. Fry off the shallots in rapeseed oil until transluscent, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pick up a circle and stretch to a desired size. Fill with 1 teaspoon of the shallot and pinenut filling. Fold over to create a semi-circle and press the edges down to seal. Put these in the oven until the parcels are golden.

















Yoghurt Soup
Put all the ingredients in a cold pan and work with a whisk. Check the seasoning and then put your feet up and wait for the parcels. Pour into a bowl and then add the parcles - sprinkle with dried mint and pour olive on top. Tuck in.