Honey and sesame halloumi, with a pea and spinach salad
Grilled halloumi is a classic vegetarian option on a barbecue. It’s easily messed up though so hopefully this will give you a few pointers on how best to prep and cook it.
Here we serve it with a spinach and pea salad. It was based on one from the great Greek cookbook, Orexi!. I took out the feta when I served it the second time with halloumi. It’s a really fresh salad in it’s own right.
Cooking surfaces
BBQ Temperature
Ingredients
For the Halloumi
- 2 blocks of Halloumi cheese
- Olive oil
- Black sesame seeds
- Greek honey – or regular honey
- Sliced red chilli (optional)
For the salad
- 300g petite pois
- 125g baby spinach
- 10g mint
- 10g chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1tsp Chilli flakes
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
Put together your salad
- Bring your petite pois to the boil and strain.
- In a bowl, place the peas onto your spinach to wilt it a little.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and toss them together.
Grilling your halloumi
- Set up your Big Green Egg for a direct cook using the cast iron searing grid. I use it with the wider side facing upwards.
- Set the Egg to 250°C.
- Take your halloumi from the packet and cut it into 4 thick slices. Don’t be tempted to cut it into more pieces, you need the halloumi to be thick to stop it drying out.
- Coat the cheese with a light amount of olive oil.
- Place on to the Big Green Egg and cook for about 3 minutes per side to char.
- Once cooked, remove from the grill and place individually on a plate (do not stack as they will cook each other and dry out).
- Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Optionally, add some chilli.
- Serve with your salad.