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Delicious Mediterranean stir fry with the out of this world fried halloumi with saffron tossed in harrisa pesto. This is a quick and easy stir fry recipe that you’ll make again and again and again.
Mediterranean stir fry is a fusion of classic Asian cooking techniques with wonderful sun-drenched Mediterranean ingredients that are prepared quickly for a simple dinner. With fresh herbs and easily bought store staples, this elegant, tasty Mediterranean stir fry with gorgeous halloumi cheese is a must-try.
Asian stir fry versus Mediterranean stir fry
Stir-fries are an Asian way of creating a quick, satisfying lunch or dinner that pack a punch in flavour. The wok transfers a lot of heat so that the ingredients cook in double quick time but still retain a fresh crunch. Spices and zingy sauces coat the whole dish and the food can then be scoffed down, even on the move.
The textures of a stir-fry are important too, the softness of rice or noodles is often partnered with crunchy vegetables and the sauces tend to be sticky so that you can eat the whole thing with chopsticks. Of course, the ingredients associated are oriental.
With Mediterranean ingredients, we can optimise on all those wonderful fresh vegetables. There are gorgeous spices too which can match their Asian counterparts pound for pound but we can add even more incredible ingredients that only the Med can do well. With any kind of fusion of flavours and cuisines, we are not bound by ingredients of a particular type.
Mediterranean flavours
Just as the Mediterranean spans many countries and continents we can use ingredients from all of them. We have sumptuous sun-dried tomatoes from the south of France, mellow black olives from Greece, sweet Spanish peppers and the Italian and Sicilian injection of flavour with salty capers and nutty pine kernels. Crossing the sea we have rose Harissa pesto from North Africa that brings it all together.
Apart from these beautiful intense flavours that come shop-bought from jars of marinated or brined ingredients, we can add something else that Europe does best, and that is cheese!
And of course one of the Mediterranean’s best-loved cheeses is Cypriot halloumi. There is no other cheese quite like it unless it is trying to copy it. Halloumi has a special flavour, it is salty and full of umami, the texture is meaty and squeaky and when paired with herbs and spices such as saffron as is the case with our best Mediterranean stir-fry, the flavours simply transcend.
Ingredients in Mediterranean stir fry
The base for our Mediterranean stir fry has to be fresh vegetables. The sun in the south of Europe can help farmers produce the most plump and succulent vegetables the world has to offer. These sun-drenched vines can produce the best ripe aubergines, peppers, courgettes and tomatoes and in essence the vegetables that make Mediterranean cuisine.
The herbs that accompany them are varied and you could use any you fancy to impart a slightly different flavour or to slant the stir fry in the direction of a specific country. Use oregano and paprika for example for a Greek flavour, some sage or basil to give it a more Italian identity or tarragon and parsley for a french finish. Whilst all these herbs are not synonymous with one particular country they do elevate whatever you’re cooking, so we have used a mix from all over but one we think compliments this dish perfectly. Parsley for that classic refined feel and freshness, rosemary for a deeper woody aromatic fragrance and thyme for a sweet savoury flavour.
The addition of saffron adds elegance and another unmistakable element of the Mediterranean. North African dishes are steeped in saffron as are authentic Spanish paellas or French fish stews. It pairs perfectly with halloumi and gives the whole dish its signature golden hue. It certainly looks as good as it tastes.
How to make Mediterranean stir fry
To prepare this stir fry couldn’t be simpler. You just need all your ingredients to be ready for when you need to cook them. Chop up all of your fresh vegetables into bite size pieces. You can slice or dice, it’s up to you just make sure the shapes are even in thickness so that they cook evenly.
You can use a frying pan but a wok works better. The wok’s design means that the heat can be intensified and cook the ingredients very quickly. The time it takes to cook makes this dish perfect for a speedy supper, although it looks so good you may want to serve it at a dinner party.
A good tip is to cook the halloumi first as the wok will draw out quite a bit of liquid from the cheese which wouldn’t help when frying vegetables. Adding the saffron to the halloumi helps the golden colour intensify too. In a hot wok, add a bit of groundnut oil to get hot, then add the halloumi. You can chop it up but we prefer to tear it apart to retain a meatier texture. After 3-4 minutes, the cheese will have taken on a golden colour from the saffron and browned from the wok. Take care not to blacken the cheese but when nicely browned, the halloumi is cooked so take them out of the wok and strain off the liquid and reserve as this will have loads of flavour to add later on.
As there are two different types of ingredients left, ones from jars and ones that are fresh, you need to stagger when to add them. The wok will be still hot so add the fresh ingredients first, aubergine/eggplant, cherry tomatoes, red onion, yellow or green capsicum pepper, and courgette /zucchini. The hot wok will brown the vegetables nicely but it won’t if you over laden the wok as the vegetables will start to stew. If you are cooking for a lot of people it would be best to cook your vegetables in batches and combine right at the end to heat through before serving. The fresh vegetables will take at least 4 minutes to start to brown and be ready so if you are not timing this then the visual aspect of the vegetables getting slightly charred will tell you when they are soon ready.
Now add the chopped ingredients from the jars and the halloumi as they only need to be warmed through. Roasted red peppers add a wonderful sweetness that really partners well with the salty capers, oily pine nuts, mellow black olives and rich sun-dried tomatoes. Of course, there are other delicatessen antipasti that you can throw in such as artichokes, cornichons or anchovies to name a few so if you want to, add them too. The rose harissa pesto also comes from a jar and only needs to be warmed through too. If you can’t find rose harissa pesto then feel free to add another pesto such as classic basil pesto, chilli, truffle or tomato pesto just add the reserved liquid from the halloumi. This will give the stir fry a wonderful saucy texture you would associate with a Chinese stir fry but adds more of that wonderful Mediterranean flavour from the saffron and cheese. You will only need to warm this through for about a minute and you will be ready to serve.
All that will be left is to scatter over handfuls of fresh chopped parsley, rosemary and thyme and perhaps a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. The only question is, do you use chopsticks?
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15-minutes Mediterranean stir fry with saffron halloumi recipe
Equipment
- Wok
Ingredients
- 250 g of halloumi, torn into pieces
- 8 strands of saffron
- ½ a courgette / zucchini, sliced
- ½ a capsicum pepper, sliced (yellow or green)
- ½ a red onion, sliced
- ½ an aubergine, chopped in wedges
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 8 pitted black olives
- 3 sun dried tomatoes, sliced
- 1 roasted red pepper, sliced
- 1 tablespoon of capers
- 1 tablespoon of pine kernels
- 1 tablespoon of rose harissa pesto Alternatevely, use a classic basil pesto, chilli pesto, truffle pesto or tomato pesto.
Garnish
- A handful of chopped fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme, balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Start with frying halloumi
- Pour some groundnut oil in a wok and put on a high heat. When it starts to smoke add the torn halloumi and saffron.
- Stir fry for 3-4 minutes or until browned.
- Remove the halloumi pieces from the wok and set aside and drain off the liquid and reserve.
Stir fry the Mediterranean vegetables
- Add the sliced fresh vegetables to the wok and stir fry for 4 minutes or until they are starting to char.
Combine vegetables and halloumi with Harissa pesto
- Add the rest of the ingredients, the halloumi pieces and the reserved liquid back to the wok and warm through on a high heat for a minute.
- Serve in bowls and garnish with the herbs and balsamic vinegar.
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