Baked Feta with Pumpkin Seeds, Honey and Crispy Cumin Pittas
by Genevieve Taylor, featured in How To BBQ Published by QuadrilleIntroduction
When you quickly bake feta you are rewarded with the most amazing texture, kind of squishy and almost mousse-like — perfect for scooping up with crunchy pitta toast! As an absolute cheese addict, I would quite happily eat this all by myself for dinner with salad and not much else, but it’s also great as a sharing plate with some other dishes.
Hot honey is addictive and widely available to buy, but it’s such a doddle to make and a good thing to tuck into the corner of a smoky barbecue when you are smoking something else. You can adjust my guideline quantities below to what you have. Use half a jar of honey or use less chilli; if you like it hotter, use more chilli; if you don’t like the texture of the flakes, strain it after warming. This makes way more than you need in one sitting but stores practically forever!
When you quickly bake feta you are rewarded with the most amazing texture, kind of squishy and almost mousse-like — perfect for scooping up with crunchy pitta toast! As an absolute cheese addict, I would quite happily eat this all by myself for dinner with salad and not much else, but it’s also great as a sharing plate with some other dishes.
Hot honey is addictive and widely available to buy, but it’s such a doddle to make and a good thing to tuck into the corner of a smoky barbecue when you are smoking something else. You can adjust my guideline quantities below to what you have. Use half a jar of honey or use less chilli; if you like it hotter, use more chilli; if you don’t like the texture of the flakes, strain it after warming. This makes way more than you need in one sitting but stores practically forever!
Ingredients
Serves: 1–2 depending on greed and what else you are eating
For the smoked hot honey - optional - makes 1 x 340g (11¾ oz) jar
- 340 grams runny honey
- 2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes
For the baked feta
- 1 x 200 grams block of feta cheese
- 25 grams pumpkin seeds
- a good pinch of dried oregano
- a pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
- a drizzle of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon runny honey (if you have made the Smoked Hot Honey above, use it here!)
- freshly ground black pepper
For the cumin pittas
- 2 pitta breads (quartered)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- a pinch or two of dried chilli flakes (optional)
- sea salt flakes
For the smoked hot honey - optional - makes 1 x 340g (11¾ oz) jar
- ¾ pound honey
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
For the baked feta
- 1 x 7 ounces block of feta cheese
- 1 ounce pumpkin seeds
- a good pinch of dried oregano
- a pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- a drizzle of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey (if you have made the Smoked Hot Honey above, use it here!)
- freshly ground black pepper
For the cumin pittas
- 2 pita breads (quartered)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- a pinch or two of red pepper flakes (optional)
- sea salt flakes
Method
Baked Feta with Pumpkin Seeds, Honey and Crispy Cumin Pittas is a guest recipe by Genevieve Taylor so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe
For the hot runny honey
- Pour the runny honey into a small pan or roasting tin and sprinkle in the chilli flakes.
- Set the pan to one side of a smoky barbecue and leave for an hour — you don’t want it to boil, just warm and infuse with smoke. Remove and pour into a clean, sterilised jar. Seal and allow to cool.
For the baked feta
- Fire up the barbecue ready for direct and indirect cooking using a two-zone setup (see Additional Information, below). You won’t need much fuel but you will need a fairly high heat so open your air vents up.
- Put the feta into a small tin or frying pan (skillet) and sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds, oregano and chilli flakes (if using). Drizzle over a little olive oil and a generous seasoning of black pepper.
- Spread the pittas out on a baking sheet. Drizzle over the olive oil and turn the pieces over to coat. Sprinkle with the cumin seeds, chilli flakes (if using) and a generous scattering of sea salt flakes.
- Set the tin of feta just off to the side of the fire. Rest the pieces of pitta on the grill bars over the fire and grill on both sides to toast. Once toasted, slide to the other side so they keep crisping up away from the direct heat.
- Shut the lid of the barbecue and let the feta bake for about 5 minutes.
- Lift the lid and rotate the tin so it cooks evenly, shutting the lid for another 5 minutes. It should be soft and squishy by now; if you’d like a little more colour, slide the tin over the direct heat for a minute or two to allow the base to caramelise.
- Drizzle with the runny honey and serve hot off the grill with the pitta toasts to scoop up the cheese.
For the hot honey
- Pour the honey into a small pan or roasting tin and sprinkle in the chilli flakes.
- Set the pan to one side of a smoky barbecue and leave for an hour — you don’t want it to boil, just warm and infuse with smoke. Remove and pour into a clean, sterilised jar. Seal and allow to cool.
For the baked feta
- Fire up the barbecue ready for direct and indirect cooking using a two-zone setup (see Additional Information, below). You won’t need much fuel but you will need a fairly high heat so open your air vents up.
- Put the feta into a small tin or frying pan (skillet) and sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds, oregano and chilli flakes (if using). Drizzle over a little olive oil and a generous seasoning of black pepper.
- Spread the pittas out on a baking sheet. Drizzle over the olive oil and turn the pieces over to coat. Sprinkle with the cumin seeds, chilli flakes (if using) and a generous scattering of sea salt flakes.
- Set the tin of feta just off to the side of the fire. Rest the pieces of pitta on the grill bars over the fire and grill on both sides to toast. Once toasted, slide to the other side so they keep crisping up away from the direct heat.
- Shut the lid of the barbecue and let the feta bake for about 5 minutes.
- Lift the lid and rotate the tin so it cooks evenly, shutting the lid for another 5 minutes. It should be soft and squishy by now; if you’d like a little more colour, slide the tin over the direct heat for a minute or two to allow the base to caramelise.
- Drizzle with the honey and serve hot off the grill with the pitta toasts to scoop up the cheese.
Additional Information
The foundation of a good barbecue is heat control. Without it you are at the mercy of the fire that could be blasting over 500°C (932°F), turning everything to carbon in minutes. The key? Creating different heat zones so you can move the food to the ideal cooking spot. Think of it like your kitchen stove, there you control the heat with a dial. On a barbecue, you control the heat by moving food on a horizontal plane, closer to, or further from, the fire. Always keep an area of your barbecue fire-free to give you room to quickly move your food to if necessary. The most common mistake in barbecue is having no ‘safety zone’. A fire-free space is your barbecue safety net; a get-out-of-jail-free card.
There are two ways to cook on a barbecue:
1. DIRECT cooking, where food is placed directly over the fire. It is a high heat for searing, browning and caramelisation.
2. INDIRECT cooking, where food is placed off the fire, and cooked using a more ambient temperature like an oven. The further from the heat source, the lower the temperature.
Mastering these zones means you are in control — no more dreaded burnt outside and raw in the middle, just perfectly cooked barbecue every time.
The foundation of a good barbecue is heat control. Without it you are at the mercy of the fire that could be blasting over 500°C (932°F), turning everything to carbon in minutes. The key? Creating different heat zones so you can move the food to the ideal cooking spot. Think of it like your kitchen stove, there you control the heat with a dial. On a barbecue, you control the heat by moving food on a horizontal plane, closer to, or further from, the fire. Always keep an area of your barbecue fire-free to give you room to quickly move your food to if necessary. The most common mistake in barbecue is having no ‘safety zone’. A fire-free space is your barbecue safety net; a get-out-of-jail-free card.
There are two ways to cook on a barbecue:
1. DIRECT cooking, where food is placed directly over the fire. It is a high heat for searing, browning and caramelisation.
2. INDIRECT cooking, where food is placed off the fire, and cooked using a more ambient temperature like an oven. The further from the heat source, the lower the temperature.
Mastering these zones means you are in control — no more dreaded burnt outside and raw in the middle, just perfectly cooked barbecue every time.
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