Growing up, our mom used to make us seared Haloumi cheese, and serve it as part of a light dinner. For us, it was almost like a treat, since it's one of THE MOST delicious thing we've ever had.
If you're not familiar with it, Haloumi is a semi-hard type of cheese that melts at a high temperature, which means it holds its shape when heated, while getting nice and caramelized on the outside.
As much as we love it, unless we take a trip to Brooklyn it is almost impossible to find kosher Haloumi round here. So we never even thought of frying a different kind of cheese, until our friend Cindy told us how she makes fried cheese all the time, and she serves it to her guest with a side of our romesco sauce. Wow. What an idea!
That got us thinking. With Chanukah right around the corner, wouldn't it be perfect to come up with a fried cheese recipe? We wanted something unique and different, and we thought about the samples of Sincerely Brigitte Cheeses we had received recently. Their Moroccan Spice Cheese was just what we were looking for. Bursting with flavor mild and creamy, but firm enough to hold its shape while being fried.
We roasted eggplant and zucchini with our seasoning mix, added warm spiced chickpeas, a squeeze of lemon, some fresh parsley and topped it with crispy chunks of creamy and spicy Moroccan Spice Cheese. A simple and delicious way to elevate you every day roasted veggies
Enjoy!
Roasted Vegetables with Morocan Spice Cheese Croutons
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 4-6 people
Ingredients
- 3 Japanese eggplants, diced ( about 4 cups)
- 2 medium zucchini, diced (about 3 cups)
- 1 ½ tbsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp coriander
- ¼ tsp Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2-15 oz cans of organic chickpeas
- 1 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 1 lemon
- Cheese Croutons (recipe follows)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper
- Combine all the spices together in a small bowl.
- Arrange diced eggplant on one of the lined baking sheets. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and about ¼ of the spice mixture. Do the same with diced zucchini on the other lined baking sheet
- Bake both at 400F for 35 minutes.
- In the meantime. in a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add drained chickpeas and the remaining spice mixture. Mix well so all the chickpeas get swell coated with the spices. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes
- Before serving, combine vegetables and chickpeas on a platter, squeeze fresh lemon on top, sprinkle with fresh parsley and top with fried cheese croutons ( recipes follows)
Notes
YOU CAN MAKE THIS DISH AHEAD OF TIME, BUT FRY THE CROUTONS JUST BEFORE SERVING. CHEESE CAN BE ALSO BREADED AHEAD OF TIME AND STORE IN THE FRIDGE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE FRYING.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
Moroccan Spice Cheese Croutons
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 40
Ingredients
- 1- 7oz block Sincerely Brigitte Moroccan Spice cheese, diced into about 40 cubes
- 4 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- Pinch of salt
- 4 tbsp olive oil, for frying
Instructions
- Cube the Moroccan Spice cheese into about 40 cubes
- Place cheese in a large resealable bag with 4 tablespoons of flour and a pinch of salt to taste. Seal the bag and shake it really well until all the cheese is well coated with flour.
- Pour beaten eggs into a deep dish
- Place Panko bread crumbs into another deep dish add a pinch of salt to taste
- Dip each crouton in egg and then Panko until well coated
- Heat olive oil in a late skillet. Fry cheese one minute per side until crispy. Serve immediately
Notes
YOU CAN MAKE THIS DISH AHEAD OF TIME, BUT FRY THE CROUTONS JUST BEFORE SERVING. CHEESE CAN BE ALSO BREADED AHEAD OF TIME AND STORE IN THE FRIDGE FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE FRYING.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
This post is sponsored by Sincerely Brigitte, who offers a selection of fantastic flavored cheeses. Made with premium rBST-free milk, sourced from only small Wisconsin dairy farms, and using non-animal sourced microbial rennet and starters and all natural vegetarian ingredients. And it’s also certified kosher. All opinions are ours
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tami weiser
Ladies this is SUCH a creative recipe- the croutons are easy and brilliant!!! YUM-A-ROO!!
Vicky & Ruth
Thank you Tami. It is a fun and yummy recipe!