Recipes>Halloumi Recipes

Meliz Berg’s One-pot Halloumi and Tomato Pasta

by Meliz Berg from Meliz’s Kitchen: Simple Turkish-Cypriot comfort food and fresh family feasts

Easy

Serves 4–6

Flick to the ‘Quick Cooking for Busy Weeknights’ section of Meliz’s Kitchen , and you’ll find this simple pasta dish, made up in one pot and perfect for a speedy dinner. Sweet caramelised onions, cinnamon and a final scattering of halloumi add layers of Cypriot flavour.

Discover more delicious Halloumi recipes

From hot grills to fresh salads

From the book

Meliz’s Kitchen

Meliz Berg

Meliz’s Kitchen: Simple Turkish-Cypriot comfort food and fresh family feasts

Comforting and easy go-to meals for busy family life

From breakfasts and traditional stove-top dishes to barbecue recipes and crowd-pleasing desserts

A celebration of the melting-pot of delicious spices and fresh flavours that make a Turkish-Cypriot kitchen

Buy From

Introduction

This dish does exactly what it says on the tin, a one-pot pasta recipe that begins with a delicious tomatoey base and, in true Cypriot fashion, is finished off with a liberal coating of grated hellim (halloumi) and dried mint. Sweet caramelised onions, cinnamon and bay give the dish its essential Cypriot umami – this is a dish that is perfect served on its own, but one that goes well with a fresh and simple portion of Salata on the side.

Tags

Ingredients

3 tbspolive oil
2onions, finely chopped
4garlic cloves, finely grated
½ tsppaprika
1 tspground cinnamon
½ tspsea salt flakes
1 tspcoarse black pepper, plus extra to serve (optional)
6 tspdried mint, plus extra to serve (optional)
4 tbsptomato purée
400g can ofchopped tomatoes
1chicken or vegetable stock cube
500mlboiling water
2bay leaves
300gpenne pasta
1 tbspfresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
150ghalloumi cheese, grated, plus extra to serve (optional)
extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Method

Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium heat and add the onions, softening until caramelised for around 12–15 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for around a minute or two, then add the paprika, cinnamon, salt, half a teaspoon of the black pepper and two teaspoons of the dried mint and stir well. Add the tomato purée and the chopped tomatoes, stir well and reduce the heat down to the lowest simmer and let everything cook for 2–3 minutes while you get the stock ingredients ready. Keep checking the pan and giving it the occasional stir to make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.

Add the stock cube to a large measuring jug and dissolve fully in 500 ml boiling water. Fill the empty can of chopped tomatoes with cold water, add to the jug, stir, then top up with as much as necessary to bring the stock mixture up to 1 litre.

Add the bay leaves and the pasta to the pan, stir everything through the mixture, then pour in the stock. Stir the pasta well, bring to the boil, then reduce to a low–medium simmer for around 12–15 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the grated hellim with two teaspoons of dried mint and the remaining half teaspoon of black pepper.

Once the pasta has cooked (there should still be some juices in the pan, but the sauce should have reduced down), carefully pour it into a large serving dish, stir through the parsley, the hellim and the remaining two teaspoons of dried mint. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil to serve and garnish with extra hellim, dried mint and black pepper if desired.

Reviews

Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how it went by leaving a comment below.

Cancel reply

Your review

Name *

Our team will respond to any queries as soon as we can - this may take longer over weekends. You do not need to resubmit your comment.

Please note: Moderation is enabled and may delay your comment being posted. There is no need to resubmit your comment. By posting a comment you are agreeing to the website Terms of Use .

Be the first to leave a review

Ingredients
Method

More Halloumi Recipes

View all

Halloumi or Cod Provençal

by Eleanor Wilkinson from One Pot, One Portion

Meliz Berg’s One Pot Spiced Mince Linguine

by Meliz Berg from Dinner Tonight

More Recipes from Meliz’s Kitchen

View all

Meliz Berg’s Red Lentil Soup (Mercimek Çorbası)

by Meliz Berg from Meliz’s Kitchen

Meliz Berg’s Sour Cherry Jam

by Meliz Berg from Meliz’s Kitchen

More Meliz Berg recipes

View all

Meliz Berg’s Spiced Mince and Chips

by Meliz Berg from Dinner Tonight

Meliz Berg’s Spiced Fruit Baklava Crumble

by Meliz Berg from Dinner Tonight

Get our latest recipes, features, book news and ebook deals straight to your inbox every week