Changeable as our summers are, it makes sense to have a few dishes up your t-shirt sleeve that can be cooked indoors or out. This dish of marinated, cooked halloumi cheese with roasted tomatoes and a piquant salsa verde fits the bill perfectly.
You can cook it on the barbecue, in which case it makes sense to sizzle the tomatoes in a skillet, or on the stove. With some warmed pitta breads it makes a main for two people or can be used as part of a bigger spread. Leave out the anchovies in the salsa and it’s a useful vegetarian alternative to the usual barbecue meat fest. And if you’re cooking for a crowd, just double or treble the quantities.
If you’d like to get ahead, soak and then marinate the cheese the day before. This helps soften it and reduces some of its saltiness. You can also pre-make the salsa verde, and the hummus, if you are making your own. Then, just before you want to eat, all you need to do is cook the cheese and tomatoes (British-grown are at their best right now) and assemble everything on a serving plate.
ABOUT LINDA
Linda Duffin is a food writer who operates a cookery school, Mrs Portly’s Kitchen Classes, from her beautiful Tudor home in mid-Suffolk. Students are invited, in season, to plunder the kitchen garden and orchard in her two-and-a-half-acre garden for ingredients and can also book a stay as part of a course. Linda works closely with local producers, some of whom join her in teaching classes in their specialist areas. The Mrs Portly name, Linda says, started as a joke but she has grown into it. mrsportlyskitchen.co.uk
FRIED HALLOUMI WITH SALSA VERDE RECIPE
(serves 2 as a light main, 4 as part of a larger meal)
INGREDIENTS
1 block of halloumi cheese, cut into four equal oblongs
For the marinade:
1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
3-4 sprigs of mint, leaves stripped and chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
A few good glugs of olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
For the salsa:
1 small bunch of parsley
Few sprigs of mint
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
1 tbsp chopped gherkins
About 6 black olives, pitted and chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
Juice of up to 1/2 lemon
1 heaped tsp of Dijon mustard
Optionally, two or three finely chopped anchovies
Freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt, to taste
To serve:
A tub of hummus
400g cherry tomatoes on the vine
Soak the block of cheese in cold water for a few hours. Drain, pat dry, and cut into four equal rectangles.
Finely chop all the marinade ingredients and mix together in a bowl. Add the chunks of cheese and toss gently to coat. Cover and marinate overnight in the fridge.
To make the salsa, finely chop the first five ingredients, stir through the mustard, add half of the lemon juice and whisk in the oil. Taste and adjust the amount of lemon juice and seasonings if necessary.
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan and roast the tomatoes, drizzled with oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, for around 20 minutes until softened and slightly blistering. Keep warm.
Heat a good drizzle of oil in a frying pan, pat the halloumi dry and fry for a couple of minutes per side until browned. Alternatively, place on an oven tray and grill. If you’re barbecuing, make sure the grill bars are clean and place the cheese directly on the bars once the coals are ashen and very hot.
Spread the hummus on a plate, top with the tomatoes and dot around spoonsful of the salsa verde. Top with the cheese, drizzle over some of the pan juices from the tomatoes, and eat straight away while the cheese is hot and crisp. Serve with warmed pitta breads and the rest of the salsa on the side.
