Halloumi and Harissa Burger

Ingredients

• 250 g halloumi, cut into 4 thick slabs
• 2 tbsp harissa
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 burger buns, split
• 80 g Greek yoghurt
• zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• a small handful of mint, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, sliced thin
• 1 tomato, sliced
• a handful of rocket

Method

1. Dry the halloumi

   Pat the slabs completely dry with kitchen paper. Halloumi comes packed in brine and a wet surface steams grey instead of taking a griddle mark.

2. Rub with harissa

   Mix the harissa with the oil and rub it over the halloumi. The oil is not optional — it carries the paste onto the cheese and stops the spices from scorching bare on the metal.

3. Make the yoghurt sauce

   Stir the yoghurt with the lemon zest, juice and mint, and season. This is the cooling half of the burger; make it before the cheese goes on so it is not an afterthought.

4. Griddle

   Cook the halloumi on a hot griddle pan for about 2 minutes a side, until striped and softened, toasting the buns alongside. Take it off while it still gives — held too long it turns squeaky and tight.

   4 min

5. Build

   Sauce the base, then tomato, halloumi, onion and rocket. Serve immediately: halloumi is one of the few things that genuinely will not wait.