These nutty, salty, sweet summer toasts are IT. Use store-bought pesto or go the extra mile and make the pistachio pesto at the bottom of the recipe. There are so many uses for that beyond this toast, including pestos, alongside grilled fish or chicken, dolloped into a pot of beans, etc.
Move over BLT. PHTN (pesto, halloumi, tomato, nectarine) is gunning for ya. Hmmmm, I admit that I need to work on my branding.
Ingredients
- 1 large thick slab of your favorite bread (sourdough is great)
- 1 tbsp evoo
- 4 slices halloumi – 1/4 inch thick
- 1-2 tbsp pesto of choice (see below for my crushed pistachio sauce – worth the effort)
- Few thick slices best tomato
- Few thick slices best stone fruit (I used nectarine)
- Fresh mint if you have it
- Maldon salt
- Balsamic vinegar
Method
- Preheat heavy bottom skillet over medium high. Drizzle in evoo and add bread. Press down to encourage contact. Toast for 3-5 minutes until very well-bronzed.
- Meanwhile, add halloumi slices next to toast if possible and pan-fry about 2-3 min a side until nicely browned.
- Transfer toast to plate. Top with pesto, then fried halloumi then tomatoes and peaches. Sprinkle with maldon salt, a drizzle of balsamic and finally a drizzle of evoo. Finish with mint leaves if you have’em.
Serves 1 v hungry eater
If you’d like to watch a reel of me making this, check that out here.
Crushed pistachio sauce
- 1 cup shelled pistachios (toasted in skillet for 5 min)
- 2-3 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- Zest of one lemon and juice of 1/2 lemon
- ½ cup packed fresh parsley
- ½ cup packed fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil for sauce
Process everything in food processor except evoo until well-blended. Stream in evoo while machine is running until it’s a rough paste. Taste and adjust seasoning. Use on toast, with pasta or pretty much on everything and anything.