Labneh, nectarine, cucumber salad with hazelnut dukkah & herbs

Is it a dip or is it a salad? It’s both. Together. It’ll definitely get you a few oohs and aahs when you present it, trust me. The surprising addition of juicy nectarine set against the savoury spice mix and cucumber makes this a thrill to eat. If you don’t manage to prepare the labneh the previous day, don’t worry, you can get very close to it by lightly salting the thickest Greek yoghurt you can find. This is also delicious with a pinch of Turkish chilli on top.

As featured in the OFM

ingredients

serves 4

• 500g thick Greek yoghurt

  3/4 tsp fine salt

  2 large ripe white or yellow nectarines or peaches

  Zest and juice of ½ lemon

  2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

  1 cucumber, peeled into stripes, de-seeded, and cut into  1 ½-2 cm chunks

  A few sprigs of dill, finely chopped

  A big handful of mint leaves, roughly torn

  Pepper

  Dukkah

  20g sesame seeds

  30g blanched hazelnuts, pistachios or walnuts

  2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed

  2 tsp nigella seeds

instructions

Make the labneh first, ideally 24 hours before, but three to four hours straining is better than nothing, too. Combine the yoghurt with the salt in a bowl and have a taste. If you can’t quite taste it, keep adding more, stopping when it tastes nicely seasoned.

Scrape into a clean tea towel or muslin, pull up and fasten the sides with an elastic band and suspend over a bowl in your fridge. I often pop it on a sieve if I haven’t got room to suspend it.

Next make the dukkah. Place the sesame seeds and hazelnuts in a pan over low heat and leave everything to gently toast, shaking the pan occasionally, until the sesame seeds are light golden and the hazelnuts have a little colour on them, about 6-8 minutes. Roughly chop or crush the hazelnuts, then add to a bowl with the sesame seeds, crushed fennel seeds, nigella and a pinch of salt.

When you’re ready to eat, destone and cut the nectarine into 1 ½ -2cm chunks, then place in a mixing bowl. Zest over the lemon, then squeeze in the juice and pour in the oil. Season lightly.

Unwrap the labneh and swirl over a large plate. Top with the cucumber, then spoon over the nectarines and all their juices, then scatter with the herbs and the dukkah and another drizzle of oil. Serve with warm flatbread.