Halloumi & Pancetta with Mango Chutney

Halloumi is a semi soft Cypriot cheese made from goats or ewes milk.  It is deliciously salty and has a higher than normal melting point, so it can be grilled, BBQ’d or fried and it will not fall apart.

Cypriots will eat fresh halloumi at breakfast with lountza (cured loin of pork sliced thinly) and also with fruit.  Here in the UK it isn’t as fresh as in Cyprus, so I usually dry fry slices until crispy and golden brown on the outside, as part of a meze.  It is lovely with pomegranate or water melon.  Alex loves cooked halloumi in a baguette with thinly sliced lountza and salad.

On a recent trip to Cyprus dear friends of ours Mix and Manni took us to a wonderful restaurant in Limassol called Ta Piatakia, headed up by a chap called Roddy Damalis who specialises in contemporary Cypriot cuisine (www.roddydamalis.com/about-piatakia).  Ta Piatakia means ‘little plates’ and his restaurant is a wonderful take on the Spanish tapas bar.

Every time Alex and I go there, we leave very satisfied customers indeed.  Mr Damalis does a wonderful job of tweaking traditional village dishes, and bringing them straight into the noughties, all set within a fabulous, trendy little restaurant.  Mr Damalis is an inspiration.

Two signature dishes were the baked feta parcel drizzled in honey, and the caramel and chocolate cheesecake.....both are quite simply to die for…..

baked feta parcel

caramel and chocolate cheesecake

One very memorable and simple dish that we had was halloumi wrapped in bacon served with mango chutney.  I have done a few re-enactments of this dish as an hors d'œuvre before a dinner party, and it was gobbled up instantly!  I have changed it slightly, and used super thinly sliced pancetta as I found it less fatty than bacon, and thought it had a more refined taste.  I have also speared the halloumi and pancetta with rosemary for added depth of flavour. 

Here’s what I used:

1 packet of halloumi, cut into chunks

1 packet of thinly sliced smoked pancetta

Fresh rosemary

1/2 a jar of mango chutney

Cut the halloumi into chunks, wrap in the pancetta and spear with rosemary.  If you don’t have rosemary, you can easily just use cocktail sticks or skewers. 

Cook under a pre-heated grill until the pancetta is sizzling and the halloumi is golden brown and delicious.  Drain on kitchen roll, dabbing any excess fat. 

Serve with mango chutney….

…and of course with love….xoxo