For salads: Bake the strained yogurt in a heatproof dish for 30 minutes at 170°C in the oven.
I use the bottom shelf of the oven, and check the condition frequently after 20 minutes not to burn the surface.
The yogurt in the photo is made with 1 pack of plain yogurt. I recommend to use a square dish as it helps to heat the yogurt evenly.
When this yogurt is freshly baked it has firmer texture. But the next day after refrigerating it overnight, the texture is more like cottage cheese.
Microwaving works too. But it tends to be crumbled. Place a larger dish underneath to keep the boil-over water in the microwave.
If you are just making a small amount, you can use a toaster oven (bake for about 20 minutes).
Drain off the liquid, slice the "cheese" and arrange with tomato slices to make a salad. The sliced "cheese" also goes well with wasabi soy sauce.
For pizza: Put the plain yogurt in a paper towel lined sieve or strainer, and leave it to drain very well overnight.
Spread sauce on your pizza crust base, then top with the drained yogurt instead of cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
If this yogurt "cheese" alone is not rich enough, add some pizza cheese too.
Then add whatever toppings you want such as vegetables, jalapeno peppers, sausage, salami etc. Bake the pizza as you normally would.
This is an Indian style curry made with the baked yogurt and eggplants. When it's simmered, the texture becomes even more cottage cheese-like.
