Halloumi With Quick Sweet Chilli Sauce

There is something so compelling about this squeaky cheese, and my fridge is stocked with it at all times. Most regularly I treat it as vegetarian bacon, dry-fried in a hot pan then dolloped with a peeled, soft-boiled egg (I’d rather peel an egg, even when it’s hurty- hot, than poach one). But the idea for this recipe came to me one evening when I felt the need to counter the siren call of the halloumi’s saltiness with some sweet-and-heat. I use a copper pixie-pan for the quick sauce – which takes all of 4 minutes – but if you don’t have one, just make more and keep it afterwards in a sealed jar, heating up what you need on further occasions. (Recipe courtesy Simply Nigella)

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 3  fresh red chilies
• 2  tablespoons  runny honey
• 1  lime, halved
• 225  g  block halloumi cheese

• TO SERVE

•  salad leaves, of your choice
•  extra virgin olive oil, to taste

Directions

1. Slice 2 of the chillies, leaving the seeds in, then de-seed the third and chop it into fine dice (this is for full-on fieriness; you may de-seed more cautiously if you wish) and add to a small pan – ideally, the sort sold as a butter-melting pan – along with the honey, and squeeze in 1 teaspoon of lime juice from one half of the lime. Put the pan on the smallest ring on the hob and bring to a bubble, then turn the heat down low, and let it foam away for 4 minutes. Stir frequently and do not leave the pan unattended, otherwise it will foam over the hob. Remove from the heat.
2. Before you turn to the halloumi, arrange a few salad leaves on 2 plates, and pour as much or as little oil over them as you want. Cut the un-juiced half of the lime into wedges, and pop one on each plate if so wished.
3. Slice the halloumi block into 8 pieces, and heat a cast-iron or heavy-based frying pan. When it’s hot, add the slices and cook them – without any oil in the pan – for 30–60 seconds until they are tiger-striped underneath, then turn the slices over and cook until the underside is patchily bronzed, too.
4. Remove the halloumi to the salad-lined plates and spoon the lipstick-red pieces of chilli in their honeyed glaze over the cheese. Eat immediately. Not hard to do.
5. STORE NOTE: Transfer cooled leftover chilli sauce to a jar, then seal and store in fridge for up to 2 weeks.