From My Kitchen

It’s taking everything I have not to put my favourite cheese jokes in here, I mean, we all know the ‘What does the cheese say when it looks in the mirror?’ joke, right? I love halloumi, in part because it happily lives in the fridge for aaaaages, so with just a little store cupboard help you can rustle up this tasty delight to get your evening heading in the right direction pretty quickly. This easily makes enough for 4 hungry nibblers. Recipe from the always excellent BBC Good Food.

Ingredients

2 x 250g blocks halloumi

75g plain flour

3 tbsp za’atar

Veg/Olive Oil for frying

150g greek yogurt

Zest of 1 lemon

Pinch of chopped fresh mint

Method

1. Make the dip by mixing together the yogurt and lemon zest, sprinkle over a tiny bit of za’atar and put to one side.
2. In a large shallow bowl or plate, mix together the flour and za’atar.
3. Slice the halloumi into chunky chip sized pieces and put them in the flour, tossing to coat completely on all sides.
4. Heat about 1cm depth oil in a frying pan, grab some tongs and an extra plate lined with kitchen roll.
5. When the oil is hot (not smoking hot, just hot enough to make the cheese sizzle), gently lower in the cheese in batches and cook for a couple of minutes until golden on all sides, then transfer to the waiting plate to drain a little.
6. Sprinkle with chopped mint and a little extra za’atar and dip away.

PS The answer to the cheese joke is of course Hellooooo Me.