Honey Baked Plums with Toasted Pistachio Nuts and Sweet Saffron Labneh anyone?
Fruit based puddings are generally lower in fat and sugar than cake and cream based puddings, which can help everyone manage their weight.
Body weight is important for gut health as researchhas shown that people who are overweight tend to have a more permeable gut and an altered gut microbiome.
Including fruit in each meal can help to improve the range of healthy bacteria in the gut and mange body weight at the same time.
Preparation time: Make labneh the day before (10 minutes hands on time). 15 minutes to prepare on the day.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 4 large dark red plums, cut in half, stone removed
- 2 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp pistachio nuts, finely chopped
- 350g labneh made from 500g low fat Greek yogurt
- 2 pinches of saffron strands
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 tbsp icing sugar, or less if preferred
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
- Place the plums cut side up on a baking tray or bun tin and drizzle with honey. Place the tray of plums in the oven for 10 minutes and cook until they are soft and their juice bubbles from the skins.
- Finely grind the saffron. Mix with a teaspoon of freshly boiled water and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods, discard the husks and finely grind the seeds.
- Fold together the labneh, ground cardamom, icing sugar and cooled saffron water.
- To serve; divide the plums among 4 serving bowls. Top with the saffron labneh and sprinkle with the ground pistachio nuts.
Cooks’ tip:
To make the labneh
1. Line a large bowl with a square of clean muslin (or cheese cloth).
2. Place yogurt in the centre and wrap the muslin around the yogurt and tie up with string.
3. Suspend the muslin and yogurt over a deep mixing bowl and place somewhere cool.
4. Leave the labneh to drain for at least 4 hours. This will make approximately 350g labneh.
If you do not have time to make the labneh use thick Greek yogurt instead.
Love Your Gut Week takes place between 4-10 September and seeks to raise awareness of the importance of good gut health. Love Your Gut has been raising awareness of the importance of gut health for over 18 years by providing expert tips, digestive health news and recipes.
Recipe and image courtesy of Dr Joan Ransley for Love Your Gut
What do you think of this Honey Baked Plums with Toasted Pistachio Nuts and Sweet Saffron Labneh recipe?
Fancy making some?
Let us know if you get to try some.
