Cypriot Butter Bean & Bulgar Wheat Stew with Melting Halloumi
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Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 30 mins
If your kitchen is anything like ours, you’ll be familiar with the phenomenon known as a ‘halloumi stampede’ (the approaching thunder of enthusiastic feet when our favourite Cypriot-style cheese is on the menu). Sound about right? Then batten down the hatches for this rich tomatoey stew of bulgar wheat and big soft butter beans, topped with savoury nuggets of golden fried… well, you know.
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622 kcal
(per portion)
Ingredients you'll need
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 celery sticks
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 400g tin of butter beans
  • 75g bulgar wheat
  • A pinch of cayenne
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 330ml cherry tomato passata
  • 150g halloumi
  • A handful of flat leaf parsley, leaves only
From your kitchen
  • ½ tbsp olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 250ml boiling water
Step by step this way
  • 1.

    Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the carrots and dice them to match. Trim the dry ends off the celery sticks and finely slice them.

  • 2.

    Warm a large pan for 1 min over a medium heat, then add ½ tbsp oil and the diced veg. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pop a lid on the pan (or use a baking tray if you don’t have a lid) and fry for 8 mins, stirring a few times.

  • 3.

    While the veg cook, dice the tomatoes. Drain the butter beans and rinse them under cold water.

  • 4.

    Stir the tomatoes into the veg. Tip in the bulgar wheat and stir to mix. Tip in the butter beans and add a pinch of cayenne (it’s spicy, so use as much or as little you like). Drop in the bay leaf.

  • 5.

    Pour in the cherry tomato passata and top up the pan with 250ml boiling water. Give the stew a stir, then put the lid back on and simmer for 15 mins.

  • 6.

    While the stew simmers, drain the halloumi and chop it into chunks around 1cm across. Warm a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat for 1-2 mins, then add the halloumi. Fry for 4-5 mins, turning the halloumi occasionally, so it’s golden brown all over. Set aside. Roughly chop the parsley leaves.

  • 7.

    Taste the stew and add a pinch more salt, pepper or cayenne if you think it needs it. Ladle the stew into warm bowls, top with the halloumi and garnish with the chopped parsley.

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