RECIPE: Pan Fried Halloumi with Grapefruit Salad

With its high melting point, halloumi is perfect for frying and grilling.

This fried halloumi is served with fresh grapefruit and honey to compliment the savoury, saltiness of the cheese.


30g hazelnuts
500g halloumi cheese
1/2 small red grapefruit
1 small handful mint or thyme leaves
2 tsp honey
quality olive oil
freshly ground black pepper


1. Preheat oven to 180*C. Place hazelnuts on a tray and roast until lightly coloured and fragrant [approx. 7-10 mins]. Transfer to a clean tea towel, rub with the tea towel to remove skins, allow to cool, then roughly chop.

2. Cut the halloumi into large slices, no more than 1cm thick. Peel and dice grape fruit then add to a paper towel lined bowl to absorb excess liquid.

3. When nearly ready to serve, heat 2Tbs olive oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add halloumi and fry until crisp and golden on both sides [approx. 1 minute each side].

4. Serve the cheese immediately by arranging them on a serving platter slightly overlapping. Garnish with grapefruit, torn mint (or picked thyme) leaves and hazelnuts. Drizzle with honey. 1Tbs olive oil and season with freshly ground black pepper.


Halloumi is a semi-hard, unripened Cyprian cheese, traditionally made from sheep and goats milk, though in modern times the cheese in more widely available made from cows milk.

Using a quality olive oil is essential in Greek cooking. So many traditional recipes require a fresh drizzling of olive oil on serving and using a lower quality oil will only taint the finished product.

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