Roasted Sweet Peppers with Halloumi Cheese & Crispy Thai Basil
Recipe by Liz Crawshaw
Demonstrated at Decatur Farmers Market on July 29, 2017
Ingredients
Market Ingredients:
- 2 x 5 oz blocks of Halloumi Cheese from Dayspring Dairy @ $10/5 oz
- 10-15 lunch box size sweet peppers (can substitute with bell peppers) from Furrowed Earth @ $6 for 2 bell peppers and 1 lb of sweet peppers
- 1 x bunch of Thai Basil from King of Crops @ $3
Pantry Staples:
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp fennel seeds
- 1 Tsp Oregano blossoms (or dried Oregano)
- Drizzle of Honey
- Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste
Directions
*Halloumi is a Cypriot (commonly found in Cyprus & Greece) semi-hard, brined cheese made from sheep’s milk. Due to the high melting point, it retains its shape during cooking and can easily withstand frying or grilling.*
- Preheat your grill pan whilst you slice the halloumi into 1 cm thick slices. Grill well on all sides – roughly 3 minutes each side – so that the strips acquire distinct char marks.
- Slice the peppers into strips that are slightly wider than the halloumi. Try to cut them so that they form as flat a piece as possible for even grilling. A spatula or heavy press can be used to keep the pieces pressed down during cooking until char marks appear.
- Throw the basil leaves onto the warm grill to shrink and crisp up towards the end of the pepper cooking time.
- Chop up the halloumi and peppers further if desired and toss into a mixing bowl.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and add the fennel & oregano. Once they become aromatic, pour the mix into the halloumi and peppers and toss to combine.
- Drizzle the lemon juice, honey and cracked peppercorn and serve warm. (Salt to taste is usually unnecessary due to the saltiness of the halloumi).
Great with pita or naan bread as a tasty, sweet & salty snack.
Our At-Market Educational chef demos made possible by Les Dames d’Escoffier International – Atlanta Chapter and Piedmont Healthcare.
