This macaroni and labne recipe only has five ingredients but man do I love it! My Lebanese mother-in-law makes it specifically during Ramadan and she taught me how because I fell in love with it.
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Let’s talk about labne real quick. It’s a thick, tangy yogurt, much like greek yogurt or sour cream – but thicker. I’d say it’s more of a savory flavor. In Southern California you can typically buy this at any grocery store near the sour cream. But more-than-likely you’ll have to go to an Arab or halal grocery store to find it. If you cannot find labne, just use full-fat greek yogurt, preferably fage yogurt.
First up, cook the macaroni. Just boil to the pasta’s instructions, making sure to heavily salt your water and add a dash of olive oil. Next, take your mortar and pestle, add the garlic and a dash of salt and smash away until it’s broken down and becomes more of a paste.
In a bowl add the labne, yogurt, salt and half of the garlic – mix. Once the pasta is drained, and mostly cooled, you’ll add it to the labne/garlic mixture and stir to combine. That’s it!
But I also guess this is when the confusing part comes in. What’s it suppose to taste like? Well, it’s up to you but I like mine garlicky and creamy. Typically after adding your ingredients you will need to add a little more salt, garlic and/or labne.
In my opinion, you make this dish and eat it right away. If you want to prep it, I would say keep the labne mixture and the macaroni seperate until it’s time to eat. Even after about 15 minutes, the dish does start to dry up so you’ll need to add more yogurt, which might start to dilute the flavor. And this does make a lot, so typically I’ll cut the recipe in half if it’s for a family of four or less.
Macaroni & Labne Recipe
Serves 8
Ingredients
- Box of macaroni
- 16 ounces container of labne
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt or full fat regular plain yogurt
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heavily salt water for pasta and add a dash of olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking to each. Cook macaroni to instructions. Drain.
- Let pasta cool to room temperature.
- Put garlic cloves and a dash of salt into a mortar and pestle and smash away. Make sure all the garlic has broken down and the mixture becomes more of a paste.
- Combine the labne, greek yogurt, half of the smashed garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. I think you should start out with only half of the garlic mixture in case your garlic is extra potent and then add to taste once you’ve combined with the pasta.
- Add pasta and stir to combine.
- Taste. You will typically need to add a little more salt, garlic or yogurt. It’s best to make the dish and eat right away.
- Enjoy!
If you’re in the mood for more recipes, head over to some of my favorites that I also make during Ramadan like chicken pot pie and black bean lasagna. Enjoy and please let me know if you make the dish!
