Maple Glazed Dutch Carrots with Haloumi

Dutch (baby) carrots have such an amazing flavour and I have been looking for my favourite way to cook them for a while now and I believe this is it – a maple syrup glaze is wonderful. They are usually glazed with honey which can be too sweet plus I am very fussy regarding honey flavours. I paired this with haloumi as I not only love this cheese but so often fried cheese has a honey drizzle as well, so these three ingredients are a match made in heaven to me and a delicious entrée or nibble.

Maple Glazed Dutch Carrots with Haloumi

1 packet haloumi

1 bunch dutch/baby carrots

25g unsalted butter

1 – 2 tbsp maple syrup – depending how large the bunch of carrots are

Salt and pepper to taste

Light olive oil

Wash, scrub and prepare the carrots – this is the most time consuming part of this dish and needs to be done thoroughly as the stems usually have a bit of dirt embedded – if you haven’t got the time just cut the ends off, if you would like the lovely presentation of the green ends attached you will need to trim this well and wash a few times.

Slice the haloumi into ½ cm slices and pat dry ready to pan fry.

Heat a wide fry pan to med heat, melt the butter and I like to add a splash of light olive oil  to prevent the butter burning, or be sure to watch the pan closely and swirl the butter often.

Add the carrots and coat in the butter, season with salt and pepper, cook for 10 – 12 minutes depending on their size – you want them to brown slightly all over and be cooked through and softened. Cook a few minutes longer if necessary.

Pour over the maple syrup to coat, and set aside on the serving platter ready for the haloumi.

Grab a new fry pan or wash this pan out to reheat again to medium – add some light olive oil and once the pan hot, add the haloumi slices and brown on each side, place next to the carrots ready to serve.

You could also add some lovely cooked bacon rashers to this dish, and tweak the flavours with a sprinkle of ground cumin, cinnamon or even a hint of ground chilli.

Serves 4