Baked Halloumi with Chickpeas & Cherry Tomatoes
Halloumi is firm, salty, and great for baking. It’s got a high melting point, so it retains its shape through the heat, developing a gooey interior and a satisfying GBD crust. Here we balance it out with a smattering of herb, brine, and citrus flavors.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
For the halloumi
1 ½ pounds halloumi, sliced into ¼-inch slabs
1 teaspoon olive oil
For the roasted chickpeas and tomatoes
2 (14-ounce) cans chickpeas, well drained
1 ½ pounds cherry tomatoes, rinsed
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 fresno chili, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
For the olive-herb sauce
1 bunch cilantro, leaves and tender stems only
½ bunch parsley, leaves and tender stems only
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ cup green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 preserved lemons, minced (see note)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lemon, juice
To serve
Cilantro and/or parsley, picked leaves
Pickled red onions, store-bought or homemade (sub pickled chilis)
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 400°F with the fan on.
Roast the veggies and halloumi. On a parchment-lined sheet pan, toss the chickpeas, tomatoes, fennel, garlic, and chili with the olive oil, along with a good sprinkle of salt and black pepper. Clear space on the sheet pan for the halloumi. Toss the halloumi with the olive oil and arrange in the cleared space. Bake for 20 minutes.
Make the olive-herb sauce. Mince the cilantro and parsley. In a mixing bowl, stir together all the sauce ingredients. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes, then taste for seasoning and adjust. Be careful when adding salt because the olives and preserved lemon are already salty - they provide most of the seasoning.
Plate. Heap a big spoonful of the chickpea-tomato mixture on a plate. Top with a few slabs of halloumi and a generous spoonful of olive-herb sauce. Garnish with pickled red onions and picked herbs.
Note: Preserved lemons are regular lemons that have been packed in salt (salt + time). The salt softens the rind and preserves the lemon. A staple in North African and Middle Eastern cuisine, preserved lemons lend a salty, citrusy punch to sauces, salads, and braised meats. Note that you only use the rind. To prepare, remove the flesh of the lemon and mince the rind. For 1 preserved lemon, you can sub the zest of 1 fresh lemon and a pinch of salt, but it won’t have quite the same umami presence.
FURTHER READING
