Three Ways with Halloumi

Halloumi is perfect for this time of year, great for Bbq season. Perfect in wraps, burgers, pittas, salads. Quick and easy to cook, versatile and more than anything, delicious. I haven't yet tried the famous fries, but the way you guys rave about them on social media, I feel I am missing out. This salty cheese paired with bacon is exquisite, closely followed by pairing with chicken. An awful lot of you adore it too, with my 'Halloumi Rainbow Salad' being my most popular recipe EVER. So here I am featuring two new recipes to go along side, giving you three ways with halloumi.

My introduction to halloumi was quite late in life. But my eyes were opened to a world of cheese and I have never looked back. It's best eaten hot, so serve all of these recipes immediately. Simply cook the it  just before serving to keep it at it's maximum best. You can pre-soak it in some water if you find it too salty, a little tip my friend Emma taught me. I hope you are enjoying this mega heatwave, if I'm going to be completely honest, I'm a bit over it now. I think it doesn't help that I am working on autumn recipes. Give me a blanket and some hot chocolate already.

Halloumi and Bacon Burger

Serves: 2Prep time: 8 minsCook time: 8 mins

Ingredients

• Half block of halloumi (4 slices)
• 2 rashers of bacon
• Lettuce leaves (Cob or Gem)
• Handful of cherry tomatoes
• Red onion slices
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 lime
• Hot peri peri sauce
• Mayonaise
• 2 brioche burger buns

Directions

1. Slice up your halloumi, set to one side.
2. Slice tomatoes, onion, avocado, swill lettuce and squeeze lime juice over your avocado. Set to one side.
3. Get a griddle pan super hot and add your bacon, cook for 2 mins, then add halloumi. Cooking for 2 minutes on each side.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of peri peri sauce to two tablespoons of mayonnaise and smear your brioche buns. Layer up your burgers and top with a drizzle of peri peri.

Roasted Roots Halloumi tray bake with Walnut Pesto

Serves: 4Prep time: 10 minsCook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine, sliced
• 1 bag of new potatoes
• 2 large carrots, slice length ways
• 1 small courgette, spiralised
• Handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1 pack of hallumi, sliced
• Salt, pepper, olive oil

• For walnut pesto:

• Large handful of fresh basil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 30g Parmesan cheese, grated
• 30g walnuts
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Juice of half a lemon

Directions

1. Add carrots, aubergine, potatoes and half of the cherry tomatoes to a large baking tray. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt & pepper. Mix to coat.
2. Pop in the oven for 1 hour on 220c, gas mark 8, shaking half way through.
3. To make pesto, blitz garlic, walnuts, Parmesan, lemon juice and basil to a paste. Then slowly add olive oil to get your desired consistency. Season to taste and set aside until needed.
4. Spiralise your courgette and set aside.
5. When roots are five minutes away from cooking, pop your halloumi on a hot griddle pan, cooking for two minutes on each side. Add to pan with spiralised courgette, the rest of your tomatoes and a few basil leaves.
6. Season to taste and serve with fresh pesto.

Use it up:Any leftover pesto can be popped into an ice cube tray and used to pop into pasta.I also freeze the juice of my leftover lemon and simply defrost it later for another recipe.