Harissa halloumi salad
Chunks of halloumi roasted with harissa, piled on watercress, pea shoots, fresh tomato and avocado with sun-dried tomato pesto. A spectacular vegetarian halloumi salad recipe!
Servings: 4
tomato pesto
- 8 dried tomato halves
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1/2 lemon juice only (save zest for salad)
harissa halloumi
- 2 packs halloumi
- 3 heaped tbsp harissa
avocado, tomato and watercress salad
- 1 cucumber
- 1 red onion
- 250 g cherry tomatoes
- 1-2 ripe avocados
- few handfuls pea shoots
- few handfuls watercress
- 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- good handful fresh mint
- 1 lemon zest only
for the pesto
Cover the dried tomatoes with boiling water, leave to soften for about 20 minutes. Juice the lemon, add the garlic to the juice and set aside for 20 minutes – this effectively cooks the garlic.
Add the softened tomatoes, lemon and garlic to a food processor with a splash of the soak water and blend to a pesto. Taste to check for seasoning, adding a pinch of flaky salt if necessary (dried tomatoes can be salty).
for the halloumi
Cut the halloumi into chunks, add to a baking dish and toss with the harissa. Leave to marinate while you heat the oven to 180°C.
Roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once or twice to coat, until the cheese moisture has evaporated and the halloumi is very lightly browned.
for the salad
While the halloumi is cooking, thinly slice the cucumber and red onion (the thinner the better), halve the cherry tomatoes and cut the avocado into chunks.
Layer the pea shoots, watercress and prepared vegetables on the plates. Top with the harissa halloumi and dollops of tomato pesto.
Drizzle over the pomegranate molasses, sprinkle over the zest and fresh herbs and grind over plenty of pepper.