A delicious halloumi pasta with smoky chorizo, perfect for a quick and tasty midweek meal.
Halloumi and chorizo are fried until golden and mixed with a smoky tomato sauce and penne pasta in this family-friendly dish.
Salty halloumi, or the 'squeaky cheese' as it's known in our house, pairs perfectly with smoky chorizo sausage in this hearty and warming pasta.
Jump to:
✔️ Why should you try it?
- Filling and tasty
- Only 30 minutes cooking time
- The recipe can be doubled to feed a crowd
- Leftovers are delicious as a pasta salad
🥘 Ingredients
- Olive Oil - a light olive oil or alternatively use sunflower oil.
- Halloumi - 225g block of halloumi cut into cubes.
- Chorizo - cured chorizo sausage sliced into 1cm rounds.
- Pasta - penne or any short pasta such as rigatoni, fusili or spirali.
- Passata - or substitute with chopped tomatoes if you like your sauces chunkier in texture.
- Red onion - chopped finely.
- Garlic - 2 cloves, peeled and chopped.
- Smoked Paprika - gives the sauce a lovely smoky flavour.
- Oregano - dried or fresh.
- Cream - a few tablespoons of double cream give the sauce a beautifully smooth silky texture.
- Sugar - helps balance the acidity of the tomato sauce.
- Parsley - for garnish.
- Grana Padano - or use grated Parmesan if you prefer.
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes on a medium heat. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water for later, and set the pasta aside.
Two: Stir in the smoked paprika and oregano and cook for 1 minute.
Three: Add in the cubes halloumi and sliced chorizo, turn the heat up and fry until the halloumi starts turning golden.
Four: Stir in the passata, sugar and double cream and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.
Five: Stir in the pasta and let it warm through for a few minutes before serving with the chopped parsley and grated grana padano.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Serve the halloumi chorizo pasta with a side of homemade focaccia or garlic bread. A fresh green salad would also be nice with the dish, and would help to stretch the meal out further.
📖 Variations
- Up the vegetables by adding mushrooms, spinach and diced courgette to the dish.
- Make it vegetarian friendly and leave out the chorizo.
- Turn it into a pasta bake by spooning the pasta into a baking dish, topping with grated cheese and breadcrumbs and baking in the oven for 10 minutes until the topping is golden and bubbling.
🥡 Storage
The pasta is best-eaten fresh but leftovers can be reheated. It's also nice to eat cold as a pasta salad, making it a great recipe for lunchboxes and picnics.
The pasta can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge before reheating in the microwave until piping hot.
❓ FAQS
Halloumi is a semi-hard cheese that originated in Cyprus. It can be made from cow, sheep or goat’s milk, and because of its high melting point, is great for grilling and frying.
You can eat halloumi raw but by far the best way of eating halloumi is when it's been grilled or fried. Due to it's high melting point it keeps its shape really well and gives dishes a lovely chunky texture.
Yes, halloumi is considered safe to eat during pregnancy as long as it has been made from pasteurised milk.
😋Related recipes
More delicious recipes with halloumi as the star ingredient!
- Creamy Halloumi Curry - A fusion style twist on a classic Indian curry. Halloumi is fried and mixed into a creamy and fragrant curry sauce, for a delicious Halloumi curry EVERYONE will love!
- Halloumi Couscous Salad - Pan-fried halloumi cheese combined with pearly couscous, fresh herbs, and salad vegetables, makes THE BEST halloumi couscous salad!
- Halloumi and Sweet Potato Bake - This sweet potato and halloumi bake makes a yummy vegetarian main meal, served with a salad and crusty bread.
Don't want to miss a thing?
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, to keep up-to-date with all the latest news from the Effortless Foodie kitchen.
Come over and join the Effortless Foodie VIP Facebook group, where we share recipes, meal planning tips and tricks, and have a good old chat about all things food-related.
If you have a question about this recipe, please get in touch using the form on my contact page, or leave a comment on this post.
Grab your free pantry checklist!
A well-stocked pantry is key to whipping up quick and easy meals, which is an absolute must when you have hungry kids to feed! Download my FREE Pantry Checklist and make sure you have everything on hand, to create delicious, fuss-free family food when time is against you, and the kids are STARVING! You'll also be added to our mailing list to receive new recipes via email as soon as they are published.
More delicious pasta recipes from the Effortless Foodie kitchen!
Recipe
Halloumi Pasta with Smoky Chorizo
Ingredients
- 250 g Pasta penne or other short pasta
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- 1 Red Onion peeled and chopped
- 2 Garlic Cloves peeled and chopped
- 2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 225 g Halloumi cut into cubes
- 200 g Chorizo cut into 1cm slices
- 500 ml Passata or use a tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 teaspoon Sugar
- 3 tablespoon Double Cream
- 50 g Grana Padano grated (or use Parmesan)
- 2 tablespoon Parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes on a medium heat. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water for later, and set the pasta aside.
- Stir in the smoked paprika and oregano and cook for 1 minute
- Add in the cubes halloumi and sliced chorizo, turn the heat up and fry until the halloumi starts turning golden.
- Stir in the passata, sugar and double cream and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta and let it warm through for a few minutes before serving with the chopped parsley and grated grana padano. You may want to use a bit of the pasta cooking water that you reserved to help create a silky smooth sauce. Just add a few tablespoons at a time at the same time as you add the pasta, until you reach your desired consistency.
Notes
- Up the vegetables by adding mushrooms, spinach and diced courgette to the dish.
- Make it vegetarian friendly and leave out the chorizo.
- Turn it into a pasta bake by spooning the pasta into a baking dish, topping with grated cheese and breadcrumbs and baking in the oven for 10 minutes until the topping is golden and bubbling.
Tara
Oh wow! This pasta sounds absolutely amazing with the combination of halloumi and chorizo. Some of my favorite flavors!
Claudia Lamascolo
you inspired me to try chorizo never had it but I am sure the family will love this with pasta!
Irina
I am never tired of pasta recipes, and this one is not an exception. I made this pasta meal for our lunch today, and it turned out delicious!
Roxana
This was great. I used smoked sausage. Love all the step by step instructions and tips. It was delicious.
Chichi
Love this recipe! It’s easy to make and the taste is so yummy
Nicola Hartley
This looks fantastic, definately going to try. Can I ask, can you do it without the cream? Tia x
Beth Sachs
Hi Nicola! Yes the cream can be left out if you prefer.
Jessica
This recipe is out of this world!!! Thank you!!!
I added some chopped turkey bacon because leftovers.. Yum!
Beth Sachs
Hi Jessica. So glad you enjoyed the recipe! It's a great one for adding leftovers.
Lesley W
Sugar in the ingredients but nowhere in the recipe. Suggest adding when you add the passata. Also recommend lightly grilling the halloumi before adding, then it holds up better
Beth Sachs
Hi Lesley. Thanks for spotting the error - I've now rectified it! I love grilled halloumi so I think that if you have time, that would be a really good idea!