Place it in a large strainer over a deep bowl and transfer it to the refrigerator. The excess liquid will start dripping into the bowl beneath the strainer. Our grandmas used to hang it by tying it to the tap over the kitchen sink, letting the whey slowly drip, but doing this in the fridge is safer. Keep it in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. Make sure the yogurt is sitting above the drained liquid. The longer it sits, the thicker the labneh will become. You will notice that the yogurt has shrunk to about half its original size. Transfer the labneh to a bowl and discard the whey.

Take a spoonful of the labneh and place the scoops on a tray lined with paper towels, leaving some space between each one, then top them with another paper towel.

Leave them to dry out for 1 day, changing the paper towels whenever they get saturated with whey.

Shape the balls using the palms of your hands to make them perfectly round. Transfer the balls to a tray covered with paper towels—this time uncovered—and refrigerate to help them dry out completely for 12 hours, or until the paper towels underneath the labneh balls are dry and no longer saturated. This is a sign that your labneh balls are ready to be preserved in oil.

Transfer the labneh balls to a clean glass jar, and pour in enough olive oil to fully cover them. Serve with tea, olives, cucumber sticks, tomato wedges, pita bread, toast, baguette, crackers, or whatever your heart desires. Turn those simple ingredients into a feast! Watch the detailed video tutorial above.