Halloumi and Herb Patties

Fear not if this mixture of herbs, vegetables, eggs and cheese sounds odd and the mixture seems crumbly, once the patties begin to fry, the halloumi melts into a safety net. Serve with a chilli-hot crisp salad or salsa.

Serves 4
Prep: 30 min plus 20 min chilling
Cook: 20 min

140g carrot
180g courgette
2 eggs
3 spring onions
50g flat leaf parsley
50g coriander
20 mint leaves
250g halloumi cheese
25g fresh breadcrumbs
4 tbsp groundnut oil

Scrape the carrot and trim the courgettes. Grate both; I used quite a small-hole grater for skinny pieces but a standard cheese grater is fine. Spread out in colander and dredge with 1 tbsp salt, tossing to mix. Leave for 20 minutes while you prep everything else then rinse and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel or several sheets of absorbent kitchen paper. Be vigilant about this. 

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl. Trim and coarsely chop the onions. Place in a food processor bowl with parsley leaves, coriander and mint leaves. Blitz, scraping down inside as necessary, until finely chopped. Grate the halloumi into the egg. Add veg, herbs and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly and knead into a ball. Quarter the ball and make 2 medium or 3 smaller patties approx 1cm thick from each quarter, pressing and squeezing together. Lay out on a plate lined with 2 sheets kitchen paper as you go. Chill, covered with more paper for a minimum 20 minutes. Fry in batches in hot oil, turning after a couple of minutes as they firm and brown. Serve with lime wedges.