Middle Eastern · Breakfast

Labneh Toast with Za'atar

Name: Labneh Toast with Za'atar
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 8 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 1 cup labneh, thick strained yogurt works if you cannot find labneh; 2 round pita bread; 2 tsp za'atar; 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, generous - this is a dish about olive oil; 1 medium Persian cucumber, sliced into coins; 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved; 1 pinch flaky sea salt, for finishing

Warm flatbread, thick labneh, za'atar, olive oil and cucumber.

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Prep: 5 min
Cook: 3 min
Makes: 2 servings
Skill: Beginner
Heat: Mild, adjustable

Vegetarian Halal Contains dairy Contains gluten Contains sesame

Maui says

Za'atar goes stale in a way people do not expect - the sesame in it turns dusty and flat after about six months open. If yours smells of nothing much, that is the jar and not the recipe. Fresh za'atar should smell sharply herbal and slightly sour from the sumac.

Ingredients

Everything below makes 2 servings.

1 cuplabnehthick strained yogurt works if you cannot find labneh
2 roundpita bread
2 tspza'atar
2 tbspextra-virgin olive oilgenerous - this is a dish about olive oil
1 mediumPersian cucumbersliced into coins
1 cupcherry tomatoeshalved
1 pinchflaky sea saltfor finishing

In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.

Nutrition

Per serving, as written.

400calories
15gprotein
42gcarbs
20gfat

Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.

Instructions

Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.

Before you start

Slice the cucumber into coins and halve the tomatoes. Salt the tomatoes lightly and leave them while you toast - they release a little juice that is worth spooning over the bread at the end.

Warm the bread

Warm the pita in a dry pan over medium heat, 60-90 seconds a side, until it puffs slightly and picks up a few brown spots. A toaster works. What does not work is serving it cold - labneh on cold bread is a fridge snack, and on warm bread it is breakfast.

3 min · hands on

Spread and dress

Spread the labneh thickly over the warm bread, right to the edges, and drag the back of the spoon through it to leave shallow grooves. Pour the olive oil over so it pools in the grooves, then shower the za'atar across the top.

2 min · hands on

Plate with the vegetables

Lay the cucumber and tomatoes alongside on the plate, spooning over any tomato juice that collected. Finish everything with flaky sea salt. Eat with your hands, tearing pieces off.

1 min · hands on

Make it yours

Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.

Swap With a handful of olives on the side

Kalamata or green cracked - the salt cuts the labneh's richness. Adds about 1 minutes.

Instead of cucumber and tomato on the plate With a soft-boiled egg

6.5 min in boiling water, ice bath, halve - adds an egg allergen. Adds about 8 minutes.

Instead of cucumber and tomato on the plate With fresh mint scattered over

Tear rather than chop; chopping bruises it black. Adds about 1 minutes.

Instead of labneh, or thick Greek yogurt Coconut yogurt strained thick

Needs a firmer yogurt than usual - strain it if it slides off the bread.

What keeps

Warm bread is the whole point and it does not survive being made ahead. The cucumber and tomato can be cut the night before.

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