Persimmons with fried halloumi and thyme

Whenever I spend time in Italy over the summer my usual desire to eat a large variety of things vanishes entirely. I'll have the same two dishes for both lunch and dinner, most if not all meals. Tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, and spaghetti vongole. Making a recipe using fresh tomatoes this time of year is a surefire way to get very sad very fast, so I was thinking about what my winter, nay Christmas, appropriate version of a Caprese salad would look like. Persimmons seemed like a fun winter-y twist, and while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with eating buffalo mozzarella this time of year (trust me I trial this on a weekly basis), I felt like the sweetness of the persimmons could benefit from something a little saltier, hence: halloumi. You’re gonna want to find a persimmon that’s ripe for this dish, they’re in season now, and should have a little give when you squeeze them gently, not too dissimilar from what you’d want a mango to feel like. If the idea of touching different fruits before finding the perfect one in times of a global pandemic makes you feel uncomfortable, I invite you to give any of the “I’m ripe to eat” packages a try, and be truly disappointed.

Ingredients #

For 2:

• 225g haloumi cheese (or one pack)
• 1 large or two smaller persimmons
• Few springs of thyme
• Olive oil
• Back pepper
• Flaky sea salt (I used smoked sea salt which was bomb)

Method #

1. Cut the halloumi in planks of about 1 to ½ cm thick. Heat up some olive oil in a non-stick skillet and fry the halloumi over medium high heat, until golden brown and crispy on all sides. The cheese will release some of its water first, so no panic if it looks a bit sad and ruined at the beginning. You did nothing wrong. Battle on, soldier.

2. While the halloumi is frying, thinly slice the persimmon(s). No need to peel, deseed or anything, just discard the leafy top part. Arrange the persimmon on a plate, drizzle with olive oil and season with flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. When the halloumi is crispy and golden, stack it on top of the persimmon and sprinkle some thyme leaves over the plate.

4. Yeah I didn’t really think you’d need instructions for this one either, but here we are.

Is it as good as a Caprese in summer? Absolutely not.