I love beetroot and I love halloumi and was pondering ways in which I could combine them into one dish. This 'experiment' turned out to be a taste sensation. It makes a great light lunch and is really simple to prepare. The colours are amazing and it's a great dish for a sunny summer's day. I bought a fantastic chilli and cheese sourdough from a local bakery, which added an extra special element to the dish, so If I could offer any advice, I would say buy a really good loaf of bread as it makes a big difference. There will be plenty of beetroot hummus left over from this recipe so you could make another great snack with a bowl of the hummus and some nice fresh crudités.
Serves 2
Ingredients
Beetroot hummus
150g raw beetroot, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil (or any cooking oil)
Tin of chickpeas, drained (liquid reserved)
2 tablespoons of tahini
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
Juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Good pinch of sea salt and black pepper
Halloumi
250g halloumi, sliced into 1cm thick slices
2 tablespoons of plain flour
1 tablespoon of oil
Garnish
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped into matchsticks
1 small handful of fresh mint, finely shredded
1 small handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 thick slices of sourdough
1/2 lemon (for squeezing over the finished dish)
Directions
Heat the rapeseed oil in a wide frying pan.
Add the grated beetroot and ground cumin.
Fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool slightly.
Add the drained chickpeas, lemon juice, smoked paprika, tahini, garlic clove and a heavy pinch of sea salt into a food processor.
Blitz until well combined.
Add the beetroot and blitz again.
Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved chickpea liquid and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and blitz again.
Taste and check for seasoning, adding more salt if necessary and a good grind of black pepper (add another tablespoon of the chickpea liquid if the hummus is too thick).
Transfer the mixture into a bowl and set aside (if you can make this 1-2 hours in advance it will give the flavours a chance to really combine together, but it will still taste delicious eaten straight away).
Heat a clean, wide frying pan over a medium heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Coat the halloumi slices in a little flour and add to the pan.
Fry the slices for a couple of minutes each side (they should be lovely and golden). Remove and set aside.
Meanwhile, lightly toast the sourdough.
Place the toasted sourdough on a serving dish.
Spread 3 tablespoons of the beetroot hummus over each slice of sourdough.
Place 3 slices of halloumi on top of each hummus-coated toast.
Scatter the apple matchsticks along the centre of each dish and then sprinkle over the shredded mint and coriander.
Drizzle a little olive oil over each dish and then squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over the top of the halloumi.
Serve immediatley.