Tomato and Herb Baked Halloumi Cheese

Tomato and herb baked halloumi cheese makes an excellent vegetarian dinner or a substantial side dish to grilled meats. Serve this with flatbreads or toasted crusty bread for scooping up the cheese and sauce.

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: baked halloumi, baked haloumi, halloumi, haloumi bake, tomato halloumi bake

Servings: as a light main meal

Calories: 307kcal

Ingredients

1 onion large, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
3 Tbsp olive oil divided
28 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 red bell pepper (capsicum) large, deseeded and sliced
1 zucchini medium, diced into 3/4-inch (2cm) pieces
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp cayenne pepper optional
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt flaky salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
13 oz halloumi cheese 2 x 6.5oz/180g blocks, sliced into thick pieces (I aim for 6-8 slices per block)
1 lemon zested
6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
3 sprigs thyme leaves picked, chopped
crusty bread or flatbreads, to serve

Instructions

Preheat your oven to Combi Steam 350°F/180°C, 50% (medium) humidity.
Put the onion, garlic and 2 Tbsp oil into a large, shallow baking dish (mine is a 12"/30cm round cast iron) and stir to combine. Place the dish in the oven and cook until the onion has softened, about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through.
1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 3 Tbsp olive oil
Put the tomatoes, sliced peppers, zucchini, oregano, cayenne, balsamic, sugar, salt and pepper into the pan and stir to combine. Cook for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables have softened slightly and the sauce is thick and fragrant.
28 oz can chopped tomatoes, 1 red bell pepper, 1 zucchini, 1 tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Take the dish out of the oven and give it a stir, then arrange the haloumi slices over the top of the sauce and brush with the remaining tablespoon of oil.
3 Tbsp olive oil, 13 oz halloumi cheese
Cook the dish for a further 20-25 minutes, until the halloumi is golden and softened. Scatter with the lemon zest and herbs, and serve hot or warm with flatbreads and a green salad.
1 lemon, 6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, 3 sprigs thyme, crusty bread

Notes

Be guided by the color of the halloumi rather than an overall cooking time for this dish. The sauce can take a little extra cooking time if necessary, but it's important for the cheese to develop golden crispy edges on top.
You can substitute the peppers and zucchini with other seasonal vegetables. Swiss chard, mushrooms, green beans or cauliflower are all great; you may wish to adjust the initial cooking time after adding the vegetables (chard and beans will take less time; mushrooms and cauliflower can be a little longer depending on how you cut them).
I deliberately under-salt the sauce for this dish (to my taste, at least). The salty halloumi will leech some of its liquid into the sauce as it cooks, so you don't want to be too heavy-handed with your salt in the earlier stages of cooking. If you don't consume much salt you might want to leave it out of the sauce altogether.

Nutrition