Halloumi with onion weed bulbs, flowers and thyme

The beautiful white and crunchy bulbs of onion weeds to me taste even better than spring onion, plus you can eat the leaves and flowers too (although here I just had the bulbs and a few flowers.

Nothing could be easier than this dish! Pull out the onion weeds from your garden (while weeding) or from any field where they abound (like here in Oratia), wash and clean, remove the outer skin of the bulbs and sauté in a pan with just a little olive oil. Add the Halloumi and cook on on both sides. No need to add salt as the cheese is already salty and its juices will coat the onion weed too. Finish with a few sprigs of fresh thyme (if you like) and some onion weed flowers (just use the flowers which have not formed a seed  pod yet). Serve with salad or in a burger bun, or with pita and olives, or how you like. You will be digging for more onion weed bulbs in no time!

 For more recipe ideas with onion weed click here

For more recipe ideas with edible flowers click here

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus with pistachio and Feta

Also tried with halloumi and with quinoa, very good combos! Just wash the asparagus and cut off the hardest bit at the end. Heat a couple of tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add a garlic clove, peeled and cut into two, and then the asparagus. Sizzle for a minute or two, stirring, then cover with a lid and turn the heat off. The asparagus will cook in their own steam. Uncover, add a tbsp of crushed pistachio nuts and cubed feta. If using halloumi, cube it first then sizzle with the garlic and olive oil, remove, add the asparagus and cook as before. Add the halloumi back at the end with the pistachio. Serve on a plate of quinoa.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Asparagus and Halloumi filo rolls

These are much better than asparagus rolls (although I confess that I don't like asparagus rolls, I only eat them if I have to, i.e. I go to a 'high tea' and the only vegetarian sandwich are... asparagus rolls! High teas are not very imaginative in this part of the world). So yes, I like to boast that these are 100 times better than asparagus rolls made with buttered white bread! 

I got the idea after doing this (another invention of mine :-)) and I though of adding a lightly steamed asparagus to each roll, and just a little Halloumi. For each roll you will need only one sheet of filo pastry, roll it up like a spring roll (closing the ends), brush with water (you can use melted butter or olive oil, but water is fine and no fat!) and bake until golden. Easy to make and I can assure you that these will go like hot cakes!

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Spinach with Halloumi and Chinese garlic chives, quick comfort food!

When time is an issue I can always grab a packet of Halloumi cheese (if I have time I could make it, but not today!). Here it is cooked with Chinese garlic chives and served on a bed of spinach.

What you need:
500 g frozen spinach
1 bunch Chinese garlic chives
olive oil
a small pinch of salt
One block Halloumi

Defrost the spinach and chop the Chinese garlic chives. Put half of the garlic chives in a pan with olive oil, sizzle and then add the spinach and a pinch of salt. Sauté the spinach. In the meantime in a separate pan sizzle the remaining Chinese garlic chives with a little olive oil, then add the Halloumi and cook on both sides until golden. Cut into four and place over the spinach. Serve hot with some crusty bread.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Two quick ideas: fruit pearls, and baked halloumi rolls

Quick post today, and two food ideas (ideas rather than recipes...)

I make fruit salad with watermelon and blueberries quite often, I really like the colours together, and there is no need for sugar. This time I also had some Cape Gooseberries and some Alpine strawberries in the garden, so I added them in. Very effective, and a sugar free healthy dessert!

The second idea: (and I just wished that I had this idea before!) 

We eat quite a bit of halloumi at home, easy to prepare and serve on a bed of sautéed vegetables or couscous, or with a salad. But I thought that there must be another way instead of always grilling it or pan frying it! So I cut it into slices and rolled it in filo pastry, a bit like for a Chinese spring roll. I brushed the pastry with water (this way it doesn't brown too quickly), and baked it! Some leaked a bit, but remained compact (unlike Edam that runs everywhere and burn!), and it was so delicious and easy to do that it is going to become a staple at home (also because it is nice cold too, and the kids had it in their lunch boxes!).

I hope these ideas are useful :-). Ah, and yesterday I think that I got my Pageviews' record too: 4,028 for the day! Must comment on newspapers more often :-).

Photos and recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Fregola with zucchini and halloumi

Yesterday I had another record page views: 2,060. Funny, as I don't have much time to post these days. The most clicked post is always this one, with around 1000 hits each month, so I though that perhaps the word halloumi is a good one to have :-). Well, regardless of which post is more popular of not, thank you all for visiting!

Fregola with zucchini and halloumi

Ingredients:

2 zucchini

1 garlic clove

2 tbsp olive oil

1 block of halloumi cheese

1 cup fregola pasta

500 vegetable stock

chopped parsley

lemon to decorate

Wash the zucchini and cut into thick strips. Peel the garlic and cut into two pieces. Heat the olive oil and the add the garlic, zucchini and the block of halloumi. Sauté stirring constantly and turning the halloumi often. When the houllumi start to become golden remove from the pan and set aside. Add the fregola and stir with the zucchini until toasted. Add a little vegetable stock, lower the heat and cover. Stir from time to time, adding more stock when necessary, until cooked (about 20 minutes). Cut the halloumi into slices and place back over the fregola, then add chopped parsley and lemon slices. Serve hot. If you don't have fregola use Israeli cous cous or risoni pasta.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Lemon and Thyme Halloumi with Chards

I have been so busy lately that I had no time for blogging, or visiting other blogs much (sorry!). And no time for taking photos of food either, or preparing photogenic dishes, for that matter. The other day I cooked some silver beet (chard), leaves and stalk separately. We had the leaves as a side, hot and dressed with some Japanese soy sauce and lemon juice, and I kept the stalks for the day after. I love lemon juice and have plenty of lemons now, this recipe is so simple that it is not even a 'recipe' but it is all I have time to post now, and I can assure you that it is magic!

Lemon and Thyme Halloumi with Chards

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 block of plain halloumi cheese

A few chard stalks, boiled in salted water and drained

Fresh lemon juice

Fresh thyme

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and then sauté the holloumi on both sides until the edges start to colour. Remove the Halloumi from the pan and add the chard stalks. Sauté them quickly too. Cut the halloumi in slices and place back over the piping hot chard stalks, drench with lemon juice, add fresh thyme and serve immediately. Everybody will ask you what you put in it!!!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Home Made Halloumi Cheese and Ricotta

It is easy to make Halloumi and ricotta at home, no special equipment required except for a cheese or brewer termomether. I started with 2l of milk, full-cream and not homogenized (unfortunately not raw...) In a large stainless steel saucepan heat the milk to 32C (use the termometer) and then add the rennet (animal or vegetable). I used 2ml dissolved in 2ml of cold water, but if you use industrial rennet you may need less. Follow the manufacturers' instructions. Let the milk set for 45-60 minutes, covering the pot with a lid and keeping the temperature constant on 32C (you may like to place the pot into a bigger pot with hot water, or wrap it with a warm towel). When the milk is set cut into 1 to 2 cm squares. If the pot is deep also cut across with a slotted spoon. Wait 5 minutes, then take to 35-38C and stir gently with your hand for 30 minutes, keeping the temperature constant. At this stage the squares will look smooth and lightly elastic. Wait 5 more minutes, then lift the cheese up with a slotted spoon and place into a basket or colander lined with cheese cloth or gauze. I used a steamer, which has holes in the bottom and sides. Cover with more cloth and place a weight on top (I used a pot filled with 2l of water). Let it rest for 30 minutes. In the meantime make the ricotta, which is a byproduct of Halloumi. Ricotta Heat the leftover whey to 90C, then add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of white vinegar. Gently stir and cook for 5 minutes. The foam forming on the top is the ricotta. Lift the ricotta up with a slotted spoon and place in a small colander lined with gauze. With my leftover whey I could just make enough ricotta for a Barbie doll, but it is fun to make. Refrigerate the ricotta for one night. Now cut the Halloumi cheese into pieces and cook in the leftover whey (after lifting the ricotta up) at 85-90C for about 20/30 minutes, stirring from time to time. The cheese will rise to the surface. Take the cheese slices out, add a pinch of salt on each side, and a little dried mint (optional) then fold each slice into two. Make a brine with 50% leftover whey, 50% boiling water and 10% salt (i.e. 100g of salt for every litre of liquid). Keep the Halloumi in this brine for up to two weeks, in the fridge. To cook: Halloumi can be cooked under the grill, in a frying pan or on the barbeque. No oil is needed. Lightly rinse from the brine and cook until lightly golden. Here with bruschetta and rucola (rocket salad). And if you want to make mozzarella at home (and an even tastier ricotta) I have the step by step instructions here.