Orecchiette Salad with Halloumi Croutons Recipe| A Summer Favorite

Orecchiette Salad with Halloumi Croutons Recipe

Crispy, salty, chewy cubes of sauteed halloumi add great texture and heartiness to this bright pasta salad recipe filled with veggies, herbs and tomatoes.  The tomatoes are marinated with red wine vinegar, oil, salt & pepper, which infuses them with flavor and helps them release their juices for the punchy dressing.  Crunchy cucumbers, lots of fresh herbs and some arugula round out this hearty salad.  When seasoning the pasta and veggies, keep in mind that the halloumi is quite salty.  This salad is best enjoyed the day it’s made, while the halloumi cubes are still warm.

For a lighter salad, eliminate the pasta,  wash and dry some organic red leaf lettuce and add to the mixture.  Serve with a mild fish.

8 servings

By Yossy Arefi
Time:  45 min

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved                             8 oz Halloumi cheese, chopped into ½” pieces
4 T olive oil, plus more as needed                                         3 Persian cucumbers, chopped into ½” pieces
2 T red wine vinegar, plus more as needed                        2 C baby arugula
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper                               ½ C chopped fresh cilantro
8 oz orecchiette or other small pasta                                 ½ C chopped fresh mint
¼ C chopped red onion

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, 2 T olive oil, the vinegar, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Drain pasta well and add it to the tomato mixture while still warm.  Stir gently to combine, then let the mixture cool slightly.
3. While mixture cools, in a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 T olive oil over medium-high heat.  Pat the halloumi dry with paper towels, then cook it until golden brown, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add the cucumbers, arugula, cilantro, mint and red onion to the pasta; stir to combine.  Top with the halloumi, then add more salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar to taste.  Serve immediately.

Suggestions:

– 1 pint cherry tomatoes = 350 grs.;

– 8 oz orecchiete = 240 grs. And it takes 14-16 mins to cook;

– Marinated the onion together with the tomatoes;

– Peeled and seeded a whole large cucumber (didn’t find persian ones);

– Rendered about four main dish servings; – Next time, remember to make halloumi cubes smaller (like the recipe says);

– And don’t skip the arugula!

-You could try paneer – just heavily salt before searing as it isn’t usually salty like halloumi. Paneer similarly doesn’t melt and sears beautifully.

-Recommend a short marination of the halloumi in lemon juice, it takes the salt level down a tad and adds a nice note. You can also dust the halloumi in oregano and paprika prior to adding to the pan.

From the NYTimes Cooking Section.