I was so happy when I discovered that some of the local supermarkets here started stocking Halloumi cheese. (I used to only be able to find it in a specialist cheese shop in the city centre and they only had it in big tins). This recipe is one that has often been churned out in my mother’s kitchen and I’ve taken the recipe with me to Denmark. If you like a taste sensation, this recipe is for you!
Delia Smith’s Summer Collection
Serves 4 as a starter
1 Halloumi cheese
2 tablespoons flour, seasoned with salt & pepper
oil for cooking
Dressing
Juice & zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon capers
1 clove garlic, grated
1 heaped teaspoon wholegrain mustard (regular Dijon also works)
bunch of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 tabelspoons extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper
Coriander to garnish
1. Mix the dressing ingredients together.
2. Unwrap the cheese and dry it with kitchen paper. Slice the block into eight slices.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
4. Press the slices of cheese into the seasoned flour, coating both sides. Add them to the hot pan.
5. Fry until golden, about 1 minute on each side.
6. Serve immediately with the dressing poured over and topped with a little coriander.
7. Serve with toasted pita bread or similar.
13 Comments
One of my favorite starters. Well played!
looks good but surprised you have had trouble finding the stuff – Denmark was where I first discovered halloumi many years ago – even Netto have it, let alone the more upmarket ones.
Netto in your area must have a more exotic selection than ours! Have never been able to get it there. Only at Super Best and our Turkish lady down the road.
Lovely Kerry…..I would imagine the dressing to be quite pungent with the mustard, capers etc. Must give it a go some lunchtime if I can find the halloumi here. Nigella does a version with red chillies and mint……x ps do you have sky? Jamie Oliver has a new series visiting European countries and cooking with their local ingredients. Last week was Marrakech…this week Andalucia..
Mmm, yeah that Nigella one is good too. Must dig it out. Unfortunately I can’t see the Jamie series here. (We’re only just starting his US series here!) My mum taped the Marrakech one for me last week and I’ll watch it when home next week (volcanic ash permitting ;-). You must be excited to see the Andalucia episode.
Kerry – remind me to introduce you to the delights of signing up for your own VPN – watch all UK tv from your laptop. iPlayer is a truly marvellous invention.
Sounds like there’s a lot of top tips I need to get from you, including how to get a table at Noma ;-) Would love to be able to watch UK TV (esp. cookery programmes) from my laptop. Am very low-tech when it comes to that kind of stuff.
Yummy but very garlicky! We made more of the dressing and used it on pasta as a main course with roasted veggie on the side. I would go easy on the garlic or fried it a bit to serve it to guess, especially if I have to talk to then close range ;)
Glad you gave it a go & good idea with the pasta. I guess it’s ‘smag og behag’ with the garlic ;-)
(It was only one clove, not a whole bulb, right?)
I discovered halloumi a few years ago as I moved to Cyprus, never heard of it before. But straight away I fell in love with that delicious cheese that is so versatile and gives its special note to so many dishes. Very often we try new halloumi recipes and there is not one week since then, that we won’t have at least one meal with halloumi, not to speak about BBQs, where having halloumi is a must.
Thank you for sharing this recipe and giving me a new idea.
Lucky you moving to the home of Halloumi! My whole family love it. We often just cube it and stick it on some skewers with peppers, tomatoes etc. & BBQ it. Do you have any other interesting ideas for how to serve it?
Just made this one again..HUGE success. you are amazing! Keep on blogging.
I used to make this a lot but a change of location made haloumi almost impossible to source. I shall be getting some imported though and can guarantee that this is a great starter. Try it on a bed of rocket!