Halloumi Skewers can hold your whole dinner on one skewer! You can use your broiler, air fryer or BBQ!
Halloumi cheese comes from Cyprus. It is typically a blend of sheep and goat milk and maybe some cow's milk thrown in. It is brined so it is salty and squeaky!
Its claim to fame is that it has a high melting point so you can fry or grill and it will hold its shape.
It is very flavourful so a little goes a long way and is often used as a meat substitute.
For the vegetables you can use any vegetables of your choice as long as they will grill up fairly quickly. You can vary the the vegetables to suit your taste.
I recommend microwaving the onion a bit to soften so it will be cooked through when the other vegetables are done.
You could also use any oil based dressing you like. I think Balsamic would be good or an Italian mix.
So - the recipe itself is very versatile and forgiving.
If you are using the Pampered Chef Skewer Rotisserie in theory you could cook all of them at once but in practice the width of the vegetables needs space to turn freely so you can only use every second skewer slot. So you will have to do 2 batches.
If you are using a grill or the broiler you will be able to cook them all at once. In the oven you will need a sheet pan to catch the drips. If you are worried about the vegetables dropping off onto your grill you might want a BBQ sheet pan over the grill.
You will need to flip your skewers manually after about 4 minutes. Ultimatly timing will vary depending on the size of your vegetable chunks so watch carefully and remove when they have softened and cooked through. That said - grilling the skewers turns this into a great summer patio meal!
Wine Pairing for Halloumi Skewers
The saltiness of the cheese here cries out for something crisp to offset it. A Sauvignon Blanc would go well. A Pinot Grigio would work as well. A Greek Assyrtiko would be excellent and in keeping with the theme!
A dry Rosé with some herbal tones would be good as well.
Red would be very tricky here - salt accentuates the alcohol in the wine and tannins accentuate the saltiness of the food. You might get away with a light bodied, low tanning red - the kind that recommends chilling before drinking - like a light Beaujolais or light Valpolicella Classico.
Equipment
- Air Fryer with Skewer Rotisserie
- or 6 wooden skewers soaked in water 20 minutes or 6 metal skewers for oven or BBQ
Ingredients
- 10 oz Halloumi cheese Cut into 12 pieces
- 12 rounds zucchini about 1" thick and 3" diameter
- 6 red pepper chunks
- 6 grape tomatoes
- 6 medium mushrooms
- 6 hunks sweet onion
- 3 Tbsps Greek Feta and Oregano dressing or oil based dressing of your choice
Instructions
- Clean and cut up the vegetables as suggested in the ingredients. Try to make the vegetable chunks as close to the same size as possible. Microwave the sweet onion hunks about 3 minutes on medium/high to soften them up.
- Marinate cheese and vegetables in the dressing for at least 20 minutes. (Can marinate up to 24 hours.)
- Thread each skewer with 2 pieces Halloumi, 2 zucchini chunks, 1 each pepper, mushrooms, tomato and sweet onion, alternating ingredients. Depending on the length of your skewer (if not using Pampered Chef) you can add more vegetables.
- Due to the width of the vegetables you will have to cook in 2 batches of 3 skewers.
- Cook 3 skewers on Rotisserie setting for Pampered Chef Air Fryer. Check after about 12 minutes to see if vegetables soften. Add more time if needed. Repeat with 2nd batch.
- You can also BBQ or broil the skewers. (Set the skewers on a rack, if possible, over a sheet pan on the 2nd level from broiler.) You will have to turn the skewers manually after 4 or 5 minutes. Add time on the second side as needed until vegetables have softened and cooked through.
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