Put 250 g Cherry tomatoes into a roasting tin with 1 tablespoon Olive oil and 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper. Put into the oven for 25 minutes, until the tomatoes start to blister.
250 g Cherry tomatoes, 1 tablespoon Olive oil
Add 140 g Penne pasta to a pan of boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes.
140 g Penne pasta
Heat a frying pan and add 100 g Halloumi and dry fry for around 4 minutes, stirring regularly.
100 g Halloumi
Drain the pasta and put it back into the pan. Stir in 3 tablespoon Cream cheese, juice of 0.5 Lemon, 25 g Fresh basil and 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper.
3 tablespoon Cream cheese, 0.5 Lemon, 25 g Fresh basil, 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
Add the cooked tomatoes and halloumi to the pasta and stir, then serve.
Notes
You can dry fry the halloumi, without using any oil. But you could cook it under the grill too.
Give the dish a veggie boost by roasting some peppers, courgette and aubergine at the same time. Or mixing some spinach in just before serving.
If your lemon is not very juicy, you might need to use a whole one.
Make sure your pan is nice and hot before adding the halloumi, as it will give it nice crispy edges.
You won't need to use a lot of salt in this dish, as the halloumi is quite salty anyway.
Add a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts when serving. It's a great way to add some extra crunch.
Leftovers of this halloumi pasta are delicious when cold.
Add some extra protein with some chickpeas.
Make this even faster by using fresh pasta and a tomato based pasta sauce.