Halloumi Cheese Tray Bake with Chickpeas and Harissa

Halloumi cheese tray bake, a delicious recipe that combines Mediterranean vegetables with North African Harissa paste & za’atar spice blend.

This is a wonderfully easy recipe to cook, chop your ingredients, make a quick sauce, combine everything and chuck it into a hot oven for 30 minutes and dinner is served.

Roasted Halloumi with Chickpeas and Harissa

Throwing a load of stuff on a baking tray, adding a complementary sauce and chucking it all in the oven is always a satisfyingly simple way to make dinner.

I have of examples that range from a preserved lemon and chicken tray bake to baked mackerel with potatoes, and a pork chop traybake to a beef sausage tray bake.

My latest offering is a vegetarian halloumi cheese and chickpea tray bake and It’s simplicity at its very best!

We begin with a tin of chickpeas and some “Mediterranean” vegetables. The type of veggies that will cook quicky, think peppers, tomatoes, courgettes and red onion.

Then we add some diced halloumi cheese, a spicy sauce and a sprinkle of salt and za’atar.

That sauce rocks Tunisian rose harissa paste, a bit of lemon juice, honey and a drizzle of olive oil.

All you need to do is mix it together and throw it in the oven and dinner is served.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add different vegetables?

Yes, you can throw anything you like in this, but make sure they will cook in 30 minutes.

The secret to a good tray bake is choosing ingredients that cook in the same amount of time as each other, or staggering the cooking time.

As a result, if you want to add root vegetables, you will need to add them much earlier or parboil them.

Can I use regular harissa instead of rose harissa?

Yes, you can use any harissa paste that you like.

Is harissa paste spicy hot?

I personally do not think so, however, I do have reasonable tolerance levels for chilli spice. If you are not sure you can try a little on the tip of a spoon before you get started and decrease the amount if desired.

Do I have to use tinned chickpeas?

No, but the chickpeas do need to be cooked prior to putting this in the oven.

The quickest way to do this would be to cook the chickpeas in an Instant Pot, they require no soaking and it takes around 1 hour.

A NOTE FOR US READERS!

You guys will know courgette as zucchini!

Serving Suggestions

I consider this halloumi tray bake to be a simple and delicious one-bowl vegetarian meal.

You could, of course, add a side salad but a better option would be some flatbread. Some pita bread is awesome, and this is superb stuffed in a pita, but something like these yoghurt flatbreads would work just as well.

This recipe works equally well as a side dish and it will serve 4 as a side.

The flavours would complement my harissa salmon fillets or harissa lamb chops recipes really well.

You could also contrast the flavours and add something like my harissa chicken thighs or just add some simply cooked meat like my pork belly slices (sans sauce of course).

Equipment Used

I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. But, if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Oven.
• 35cm x 25 cm (14″ x 10″) baking tray.
• Mixing bowls, one large and one small-medium.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• A combination of weighing scales (not essential) and measuring spoons.