Pan-Fried Halloumi with Roasted Pepper Sauce

How to prepare pan-fried halloumi with roasted pepper sauce

1. For the pepper sauce, blend all ingredients with an immersion blender or in a food processor until creamy. Keep refrigerated until needed.
2. Coarsely chop the parsley. Put it in a mortar and crush with a few grains of coarse salt. When minced, add 1 tablespoon of oil and crush some more to mince further.
   * you can also add a few mint leaves to the sauce, halloumi has mint and it would go very well to enhance the flavor
   Add the pine nuts and partially crush them too, leaving some fully crushed and some larger pieces. Add the remaining oil, freshly ground black pepper, and chili flakes to taste. Let it rest for 5 minutes while you slice the cheese (if you slice the cheese ahead of time and let it sit on a plate, it will release its whey and will be easier to fry), then remove 2 tablespoons of oil from the parsley sauce to use when serving.
3. Dip the cheese slices through the parsley sauce and make sure to put 1 tablespoon of sauce on one side (see photo 1).
4. Heat a non-stick pan well.
6. Place cheese slices with the sauce side up (as many as fit in the pan without crowding). Fry until browned underneath (about 2-3 minutes; it will fry faster if you let the cheese release its whey, otherwise it will release whey in the pan at first and you will have to wait for it to evaporate). When the cheese is browned underneath (check, but you will smell a sweet frying aroma), carefully flip the slices and cook for another 1-2 minutes. The cheese slices may split a bit in the middle, this is because halloumi is folded in half during the production process.
   * after each batch of cheese, wipe the pan with a paper towel
7. On 2 plates, put 2 tablespoons of pepper sauce in the center. Place 4 cheese slices on top. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the reserved parsley oil. Serve immediately, while the cheese is warm and soft.

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