Ingredients:
- 2 litres Jess’s Ladies whole milk
- 0.5ml vegetarian rennet
Jess's Ladies whole cow's milk
Heating milk to 32C
Diluting 0.5ml rennet in water
Adding rennet
Heat milk to 32C, add rennet diluted in previously boiled and cooled water.
Leave for around 40 minutes, or until curd gives a clean break.
Cutting the curd
Once curd has set, cut into 2-3cm slices and leave to rest for 5 minutes to allow the curd to heal.
Heating cut curd
Heat the curd gently to 40C, stirring gently over the course of 20 minutes.
Ladelling curd
Carefully ladel curd out of the whey and into a cloth-lined colander, keeping the whey for later.
Draining curd
Allow the curd to drain further, adding weight to squeeze out the remaining whey if required.
Drained curds
Once fully drained, cut the curd into 10cm x 10cm blocks
Boiling the whey
Heat the whey to boiling point, removing any remaining curd (ricotta!), which can be cooled and eaten.
Floating curd
Take the whey off the boil, add the curd slices and leave for 45 minutes, or until the curds begin to float.
Drying on sushi mat
Remove the curd from the hot whey and place on wooden mat to dry for 20 minutes or so.
Salting cooled curds
Once curds are cool to the touch, add salt and turn over and allow to cool completely.
Halloumi is ready to eat once it’s cool, or can be placed in 25% brine solution to preserve.
Can’t wait to give it a try – Halloumi is one of the most fun cheeses to make, and easiest to get right as there’s no affinage required!
