Halloumi Skewers with Tomato and Chilli Jam
Posted: 23 December '09 by Niall
Halloumi skewers with tomato and chilli jam
In the first part of this article I posted the recipe for Goats’ Cheese Crostini with Red Onion Marmalade. Now, for my own favourite – Halloumi Skewers with Tomato and Chilli Jam.
Again, one of the best things about this recipe is that, if you’re making this for a party, the assembly is very easy and the jam can be made well in advance.
Halloumi is a cheese from Cyprus, made from a mixture of goats and sheeps milk. It’s delicious, but can be a bit of an acquired taste – there’s a definite salty tang and, when cooked, has a rubber-y consistency that squeaks on your teeth when you eat it! Despite my description it’s very tasty and if you haven’t tried it before I’d certainly recommend that you give it a go. Our preferred way of eating haloumi is to fry it in olive oil so that the edges are wonderfully crisp and golden, giving a nice comparison to the slightly springy centre.
The tomato and chilli jam is sweet with a slight acidic edge and a little heat afterwards – I usually pair it with halloumi, but the jam could go with almost anything: as a relish with blue cheese or as an accompaniment to with roast chicken, for example.
You can see the photos here:
Ingredients
The skewers
- 2 x 250g blocks halloumi cheese, drained
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 32 wooden skewers
The tomato and chilli jam
- 250g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 2 thumb-sized red chillies , seeded and roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 150g soft dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 50ml red wine vinegar
- 4 tablespoons of tomato puree
Method
The jam
- Place the tomatoes, chilli, garlic, and ginger into a food processor and blend them into a purée.
- Pour the puree into a saucepan and add the sugar, fish sauce and vinegar.
- Simmer the mixture for 30 minutes until the jam thickens considerably.
- Stir in the tomato puree
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
The halloumi skewers
- Cut each block of halloumi into 8 equal slices. Cut each slice in half so you end up with 32 pieces.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan.
- Place the halloumi in the pan, four pieces at a time, browning the cheese on both sides
- As the pieces finish browning, remove them and place them on a paper towel, pushing a skewer into the cheese so it looks like a lollipop.
- Place the halloumi skewers on a serving dish with the tomato chilli jam in a separate bowl on the side
Enjoy!
Halloumi skewers with tomato and chilli jam
Tags: appetiser, cheese, party food, recipe, snack
Categories: Recipes
