Labneh Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Cheesecake is a staple of Shavuot, a holiday that celebrates receiving the Torah, and that also celebrates the Spring harvest and the abundance of dairy that come from pastured animals during this time of year. While cream cheese is typically used in cheesecake, swapping it for labneh transforms traditional cheesecake into something lighter, tangier, and silkier. Labneh is easy to make at home, as it's simply yogurt that has been strained in cheesecloth. You can also find it pre-made at Middle Eastern and Kosher markets.  

This cheesecake can be eaten as is, but it levels up with a fruit topping. I’ve included a recipe for strawberry sauce, but any other berry or stone fruit can be swapped for the strawberries. In lieu of a cooked sauce, you could also top this tart with fresh berries and whipped cream. 

This recipe requires no special equipment, and if you don’t have a springform or tart pan, you can use any standard 9” pie dish. A pre-made graham cracker crust is another convenient time-saver; the extra filling can be baked separately in a small ramekin or baking dish. While the pie comes together quickly, it does need to spend time in the fridge to fully set; it’s best to make this the day before you intend to serve it. 

Labneh Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 sleeve (150 g) graham crackers (9-10 crackers depending on the brand)

• 2 Tbsps sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 5 Tbsps unsalted butter, melted

For the labneh filling:

• 2 cups (16 oz) labneh*

• ½ cup (4 oz) sour cream

• ½ cup sugar

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

• 2 tsps vanilla extract

• ¼ tsp salt

For the strawberry sauce:

• 3 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen

• ½ cup sugar

• ¼ cup water

• Juice of ½ a lemon

• ¼ tsp salt 

• 2 tsps cornstarch + 2 tsps water, whisked together

*To make labneh: line a mesh sieve with cheesecloth, and place it over a large bowl. Add a 32 oz container of plain full-fat yogurt to the lined sieve. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight. Transfer to an airtight container and discard the liquid. 

Directions

Remove your labneh, sour cream, and eggs so they can come up to room temperature while you make the crust. 

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9” springform pan, 9” pie pan, or 9½” tart pan.

Crush the graham crackers in their unopened sleeve, or if they are open, place them in a bag. This recipe will work with 9 or 10 graham crackers, as different brands carry different amounts of crackers in their sleeves. Crush until the crackers are fine crumbles. Transfer to a small bowl, and crush any pieces that are larger than a pea in size. Combine with sugar and salt.

Add the warm melted butter, and using your hands mix the butter into the crumb mixture until it resembles wet sand. Transfer the mixture into the greased pan. Press the crumbs towards the sides of the pan, making a thin even layer on the bottom. The bottom can be much thinner than you think it needs to be; the crumbs on the sides should be thicker, and should go up about ½-1”-high depending on the pan you are using. Using the bottom of a measuring cup, press the crumbs into the bottom and sides of the pan. It will seem fragile but will hold up well once baked and filled.

Bake the crust for 10 minutes, or until darker in color and firmer. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes. 

For the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the labneh, sour cream, sugar, and salt until smooth.

Whisk in one egg at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next.

Whisk in the vanilla extract.

Pour the mixture into the slightly cooled crust. Bake at 350°F for 20-24 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to set but the center is still very jiggly when you move the pan. If using a tart pan, the cooking time may be quicker, check after 15 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake the tart.

Allow the tart to fully cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Once it’s fully cooled, transfer it to the refrigerator and let it set for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. Once set, serve the tart as is, or topped with fruit, whipped cream, or strawberry sauce. The tart will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. 

For the strawberry sauce:

In a medium pot, combine the strawberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until sugar is fully dissolved and strawberries are beginning to soften but still hold their shape. Add in the slurry of cornstarch and water, and simmer for 1 minute more. The cornstarch will immediately thicken the sauce, which should easily coat a spoon.

Allow the sauce to fully cool, then transfer it to the refrigerator. Sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance and will keep for up to one week in the fridge. 

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Burekas

This is a seasonal twist on classic burekas that I wrote up for alma. (check out their site for the full article). The caramelized onions are the key ingredient in this dish; they always take longer than you think to caramelize, but the resulting flavor is worth the work. This makes a great side, appetizer, or snack during the holidays. 

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Burekas

Makes 24 burekas

INGREDIENTS

• 2 sheets puff pastry (10” x 15”), defrosted in the refrigerator overnight
• 1½ lbs. butternut squash (1 large squash), halved lengthwise and seeds removed
• 1 large yellow onion, medium diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
• 1 big fat clove of garlic or 2 medium-sized, minced fine
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2-3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed from stems
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 large egg yolk
• Black and/or white sesame seeds, to garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Drizzle the halved butternut squash with oil, then place it cut-side down on a sheet pan. You don’t need to peel the squash. Roast until the squash is fully cooked and tender, about 35-45 minutes.

While the squash is baking, caramelize your onion by putting a few tablespoons of butter with a drizzle of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium low heat. If keeping the dish non-dairy, use just olive oil. Add the diced onion to the pan, and sauté over low or medium low heat until starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Season with a generous pinch of salt and then continue to let the onion cook and caramelize, stirring occasionally so the onion doesn’t burn; make sure to keep the heat fairly low. This is where patience comes in, beautiful caramelized onions can take 30-45 minutes to make. You want your onions golden and sweet, you don’t need to caramelize them until they’re a deep brown. This is a good tutorial if you need it.

Add the minced garlic to the caramelized onions, and sauté for another 2-3 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant but not at all browned. Turn off the heat.

Once the squash is cooked and slightly cooled, scoop the inside of the squash into a bowl and discard the peel. Add the caramelized onion to the squash. Mix together. The mixture should be soft and not too lumpy.

Mix in the ground coriander, thyme, and cayenne. Taste, and then season with salt and pepper as desired. Allow the squash mixture to cool before assembling the burekas. You can make this filling up to two days in advance and store in the fridge.

To assemble the burekas: roll out a sheet of puff pastry until rectangular and just slightly thinner than when it comes out of the package. Divide the dough into 12 squares: cut the dough in half widthwise, and then cut each half into half again. Next, cut the dough into thirds lengthwise. Put a spoonful of the filling into each square. Fold over the dough to form a triangle shape, and press the edges together. There’s no need to crimp or press too hard, the filling will stay put, and you want to ensure there are layers of flaky pastry.

Transfer the formed triangular burekas onto a baking sheet, place each bureka about an inch apart, 12 will fit on each baking sheet. At this point, you can freeze the burekas and reserve them for when you’re ready to bake.

Before baking, combine the large egg yolk with a small splash of water. Beat well. Brush the tops of the burekas with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and flaky. Transfer to a wire baking rack, and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Burekas are best served warm or at room temperature.

Recipes for Tu B'av - for .alma magazine

My article with recipes for Tu B'av (the Jewish Day of Love) is up on .alma right now!

Below is the dish that I can't stop eating right now. It's more of a recommendation than a recipe - which is my favorite kind of dish to make. And is there anything better than tomatoes in August? They help me get through the dog days of summer here in Los Angeles. You need so little to make them good. And in my humble opinion, beautiful sweet tomatoes, heavily salted, on crisp good bread with excellent butter is incredibly romantic. Enjoy!

Tomato Thyme Toasts

Serves 8-10

• Baguette or small loaf of good crusty bread, cut into ¾” slices
• 2 lbs. of your favorite tomatoes
• 6-7 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves removed from stem
• Butter (splurge on some good stuff)
• Maldon salt or kosher salt, to taste
• Good extra virgin olive oil, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Slice the tomatoes into rounds, just under ½” thick. Lightly salt the tomato slices. The salt will start to soften the tomatoes and season them all the way through.

Place the bread slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Bake the bread for 6-8 minutes, or until just toasted and beginning to brown on the edges. Once the bread is toasted, spread butter onto each piece. This dish is all about layering of fats and salt with the tomatoes.

Top the toasts with the tomato slices. Top the tomato slices with thyme leaves. Drizzle with a little more olive oil (for a little more oomph). Sprinkle Maldon salt over everything – this will add a nice salty crunch.

You can bake the toasts ahead of time and assemble them with tomatoes when you’re ready to serve, the bread doesn’t have to be hot, and the tomatoes will mellow out the bread’s crunch.

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Stuffed Pumpkin

This is the ultimate slightly-indulgent, festive, holiday dish. It's hard to go wrong with bread, cheese, garlic and heavy cream. Frankly, you don't need much else to make something delicious (maybe butter). 

To describe this as a "crowd pleaser" puts all understatements to shame. And the recipe is so easy that it almost feels like cheating. Yes, it's delicious (see bread, cheese, and cream), but this is a dish that looks incredible uncooked as well as out of the oven. 

The pumpkin gets soft and delicate. The cheese makes everything good. The garlic and herbs cut through the richness, the cream adds a velvety texture.  This recipe comes from the queen of all good things, Dorie Greenspan. Every recipe of hers that I've ever tried is both 1) delicious 2) works as written. I'm particularly fond of Around My French Table, but she is very well known for her desserts, and even has a new book on the topic.

I only tweaked the recipe slightly. By tweaked, I mean I more or less eye-balled amounts as opposed to filling each pumpkin exactly as directed. Plus, we used smaller pumpkins than the one's Dorie uses. I like these sweet little pumpkins. We served this at Thanksgiving, amongst an abundance of other rich dishes; but if you're using the smaller pumpkins, you could even serve one per person. These were gone in minutes. Zero leftovers. 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Pumpkins à la Dorie Greenspan

Serves 4-6 (

The recipe can easily be doubled and tripled; I tripled the recipe)

2 1.5 lb. pumpkins 

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 lb. GOOD quality stale bread, cut into .5-1-inch cubes (crusts can even be left on)

1/4 lb. Grueyére and/or cheddar (I used both!), cut into .5 1-inch cubes (same size as bread)

2-4 garlic cloves, roughly minced

1/4 cup chopped chives

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (removed from stem)

1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1/3 cup heavy cream

freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.

If you're using a big pumpkin, you'll want a casserole dish or something that will hold the pumpkin in place. These little guys held up perfectly on a baking sheet.

Using a very sharp large nice, CAREFULLY, cut off the top 1/4 of the pumpkin. You want to cut far enough in that you get to the opening with all its seeds, but not too far as to halve the pumpkin. You're making a lid for the pumpkin like you would for a Halloween Jack-o-Lantern. Scoop out the seeds and strings from the cap and from inside of the pumpkin. Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper (this is your chance to season the meat of the pumpkin!).

In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes, cheese cubes, garlic, and herbs together. Season with more pepper. Fill each pumpkin with the bread and cheese mixture. You should have plenty, but you can always make more filling if the pumpkins aren't full. You want them full, but don't force/pack it in... just gently fill each one fully. 

In a liquid measuring cup, combine the heavy cream with freshly ground nutmeg. I love the flavor of nutmeg, but if you don't you can omit it. Pour a little cream into each pumpkin. You just want to moisten the mixture, but you don't want it to be too soupy. 

Put the cap back on top of the pumpkin and bake for 2 hours (checking on it after 90 minutes). For the last 20 minutes of cooking, remove the cap so that the inside can brown a little. You want the pumpkin flesh to be completely tender and for the cheese to be bubbling. 

When the pumpkin is ready, very carefully bring it to the table or transfer it to a platter that you'll bring to the table.

I served these whole, and people scooped out the pumpkin and cheese and bread filling. You can also cut it into big wedges (that will ooze out cheese). This is perfect for a holiday meal, or a cold winter night.