I absolutely love the flavour and texture combination of this salad. Halloumi is not often used in my kitchen, but it is underrated, and magically adds the squeak to this dish.
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
4 baby beets
2 tbsp pine nuts
1 chorizo (150g), cut into cubes 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus
½ cup extra
¼ tsp smoked paprika
6 slices sourdough bread
1 clove garlic, cut in half
3 ripe beefsteak tomatoes
1 cup basil leaves, torn
2 tbsp capers
150g halloumi
orange balsamic vinegar or good-quality balsamic
Simon Says
When cooking anything in a pan — be it meat, fish or even cheese, such as halloumi — resist the urge to move whatever you are cooking. The heat will repel the food you’re cooking from the pan when it’s time to flip it over.
Place the beets in a saucepan of water, bring to the boil and cook until soft. Drain the water and allow the beets to cool. When cool, massage the skins off, cut into wedges and set aside.
Dry-roast the pine nuts in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat – keep shuffling the pine nuts in the pan till golden, then pour into a large bowl and set aside.
Place the chorizo cubes in the pan you cooked the pine nuts in, drizzle over 2 tablespoons olive oil and dust with the smoked paprika. Cook until crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, 2–3 minutes. Add to the bowl with the pine nuts, along with the cooking oil in the pan.
Heat a grill pan over a medium–high heat. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over both sides of the bread slices and grill the bread till both sides are golden. Rub the garlic over each side of the grilled sourdough. Set aside.
Cut the tomatoes into random chunks of equal size and add them to the pine nuts and chorizo. Next add the basil and capers.
Heat a grill pan over a medium heat. Cut the halloumi into 1cm slices, smear with a little extra virgin olive oil to prevent sticking, sprinkle over cracked pepper on both sides and place in the pan. Cook till golden grill lines appear on each side.
To serve, place a slice of sourdough on each plate, then pile the chorizo, pine nut and tomato mix over the top. Divide the beets between each plate and add the halloumi. Spoon over the juices from the salad bowl and drizzle each plate with orange balsamic.
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