This is the BEST fast vegetarian dinner you can make! We all truly love the combination of high protein pasta with the creamy vegetable sauce and the salted cheese!
Lately I’ve been on such a haloumi trip! I think it all started when my local supermarket had a special offer on haloumi cheese and I bought 4 packages. And then whenever I opened the fridge, there they were. Knowing how delicious haloumi cheese is, I kept thinking of other ways of using it!
In the past, I’ve been kind of lazy when it comes to haloumi and just fried it to eat on a sandwich with tomato. Which is also delicious. But obviously there are lots more ways to use haloumi! Like the Plum & Haloumi Cheese Salad I created this month as well. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend it!
A lot of the meals that I love eating contain vegetables. I just LOVE vegetables! There is not one vegetable that I dislike, although there are some that I like more. My favorite vegetables are peppers, zucchini, eggplants, artichokes and spinach. But I truly love them all. So of course I just had to use some of my favorite ones in this recipe – red peppers and zucchini.
The base for this dish is not pasta or rice (which my testers assumed) but instead this is another recipe using my beloved legume based risoni. I really hope you can get those or something similar in your country because they are fabulous! I have used other legume based pasta before and I’m honestly never really convinced but these ones are just so yummy! They retain a little bit of a bite (sort of like an al dente pasta) and don’t get too soft like other legume based pasta I’ve made. Maybe there’s a trick with the other shapes? If you know one, please share it with me!
This meal comes together quite fast in 35 minutes. Sometimes that’s all the time I have in the evening before my family will request dinner. While the risoni cook in a pot of water, you have time to quickly chop the vegetables and cook them with the canned tomatoes in a separate pan or pot. Just remember to not undercook them, you want the vegetables on the soft side so that it all comes together nicely.
The last remaining step is to fry the haloumi cheese! Hmmmm… that smell while it’s frying. It takes all my will power to not snack on the fried pieces just after they’re done! Are you also such a big haloumi cheese lover? What is your favorite way of eating it?
Will you make this for dinner soon? Or how about my Mixed Veggie Mash & Black Bean Balls?
Legume Pasta with Haloumi Cheese
Description
This is the BEST fast vegetarian dinner you can make! We all truly love the combination of high protein pasta with the creamy vegetable sauce and the salted cheese!
Ingredients
Instructions
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Bring salted water to a boil and cook the legume risoni according to the package instructions. Drain well and put aside.
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Peel and finely chop garlic.
Dice the bell pepper and the zucchini finely.
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Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds. Add the chili flakes and fry for a few more seconds.
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Add the diced zucchini and bell pepper and fry for 13 to 15 minutes until soft and slightly browned. Add the canned diced tomatoes, dried oregano and salt. Simmer for 10 more minutes at medium heat. Add the drained legume risoni and mix well.
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In the meantime, heat up 1 tsp of olive oil in a pan. Slice the haloumi cheese into thick slices. Fry in the hot oil for 2 minutes on each side.
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Divide the risoni and vegetable mixture among two bowls. Top with the fried haloumi cheese. Enjoy!
