Potato, Red Chicory and Chickpea Tray Bake with Halloumi & Black Olives
Everyone loves a tray bake, don’t they? What’s your tray bake multi-tasking activity of choice? Mine is usually bunging clothes in the washing machine, hoovering the lounge, or if I’m really lucky, catching up on an episode of my favourite show.
I love the tray bake concept so much I included 4 tray bake recipes in my recently released cookbook It Starts with Veg. Take your seasonally appropriate pick from; Rhubarb, Fennel and Chickpea Tray Bake with Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese / Green Bean, Aubergine and Halloumi Sweet Chilli Tray Bake / Roasted Sweetcorn, Sweet Potato and Salmon Tray Bake / Slow Roasted Confit Tomato, Chickpea, and Hake Tray Bake. Another favourite of mine is roasted carrot with coriander seed and chicken thighs. I might get round to doing it more precisely and sharing on here one day.
Anyway, I don’t need to tell you how joyful the tray bake genre is, as you’ll likely already know this, but I will tell you all about this particular vegetarian one as I bet you haven’t tried it before. Chicory, also known as Belgian endive, is wonderfully bitter, but adding balsamic vinegar and roasting really transforms the flavour. The gremolata isn’t essential, but certainly freshens up the roasted vegetables and halloumi. Serve alongside a leafy green salad and if you like some crusty bread.
- 2 medium sized white potatoes, sliced into long slim wedges
- 2 red onions, peeled and sliced into wedges
- 1 teaspoon of dried herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary, or a mix such as Herbes de Provence)
- 2 red chicory heads, sliced into wedges
- ½ to 1 tin of 400g chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry with kitchen towel
- ~10 black pitted olives (I like Kalamata)
- 1 plump clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 220g pack halloumi, sliced into 6 or so slabs
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 1 lemon, zest only
- Pre-heat your oven to 200ºC (fan).
- Place your potato and red onion wedges into a large baking tray , make sure it is big enough to take all of the ingredients. Toss with a good glug of olive oil, the dried herbs and a pinch of salt. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes
- After 20 minutes remove the tray from the oven, give the dish a good shake and add in the chickpeas, chicory wedges, olives and garlic, making sure everything is evenly spaced out. Pour over 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and add another drizzle of olive oil. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes remove the tray from the oven again and turn the heat down to 180ºC (fan). Top the vegetables with the halloumi, then return to the oven for a final 15 minutes, or until the halloumi has started to brown on top.
- To make the gremolata, chop all of the ingredients together on a chopping board until fine.
- When the halloumi has browned remove the tray bake from the oven and scatter over the gremolata. Serve the tray bake straight to the table.
What’s your favourite tray bake combo?