Viva strawberries, roasted rhubarb and rosewater labneh balls
Viva strawberries are in season by April, coinciding with the Yorkshire rhubarb season. Rhubarb and Viva strawberries are wonderful together and adding the rosewater makes this healthy dessert extra delicious. Enjoy!
Author: www.berryworld.com
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
- For the labneh
- 50g icing sugar
- ²⁄3 tbsp of rosewater to taste
- pinch of salt
- 500g thick Greek yoghurt
- For the rhubarb
- 200g rhubarb
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 5 tbsp water
- To serve
- 400g Viva strawberries, hulled and quartered
- rose petals (optional)
Method
- Start making the labneh a couple of days in advance. Line a sieve with a clean doubled piece cheesecloth or soft fabric, and place over a bowl.
- Stir the icing sugar, rosewater and salt into the yoghurt then pour the yoghurt into the centre of the cheesecloth. Pull the four corners of the cheesecloth up and tie it into a bag with string.
- Suspend the tied cheesecloth over a bowl overnight to allow the whey to drain out. If your kitchen is cold enough, you can drain the yogurt outside the fridge, otherwise put it in the fridge overnight. The longer you leave the labneh the firmer it will become - after 12 hours it should be the consistency of cream cheese.
- Remove the labneh from the cloth the next day, cover and store in the fridge until needed.
- To make the labneh balls, make sure that the labneh is firm enough to use a small spoon to scoop out little walnut-sized balls. Roll them in your hands to shape and place on a clean cloth-lined tray. Store in the fridge.
- To make the rhubarb, preheat the oven to 160C/Gas 3. Trim and cut the rhubarb into short lengths. Put the pieces into a baking dish, then sprinkle over the sugar and water. Cover the dish with a piece of foil or a lid and bake for about 25 mins, or until the rhubarb is soft but still keeps its shape. Allow the rhubarb to cool in its juices. When the rhubarb is cool, drain it and reserve the juices.
- To serve, place a few labneh balls on each serving plate alongside a pile of rhubarb. Dress the Viva strawberries with a few spoonfuls of the rhubarb juices and then spoon the strawberries and rhubarb juice over the labneh balls and rhubarb.
- Scatter over the rose petals and serve.
- Tip - in place of the labneh balls, you could use a dollop of thick Greek yogurt flavoured with sugar and rosewater.
- Recipe courtesy of www.berryworld.com
