braised halloumi with tomatoes and beans recipe by yotam ottolenghi

This is either a simple speedy supper for two, with rice or bread, or part of a spread to serve more. It’s also great as it is for a late breakfast, with a couple of fried eggs sitting on top.

Serves 2 

INGREDIENTS 

350g cherry tomatoes (a mix of colours looks great), half cut in half and the remainder left whole

400g tin of drained blackeyed beans (or butter beans)

5 garlic cloves, 4 thinly sliced, 1 crushed

5-6 thyme sprigs, plus 1 tsp finely chopped leaves

1 lemon, zest thinly shaved to get 4 strips,  the remainder finely grated, 1 tbsp juice

90ml olive oil

250g halloumi, cut into 6 slices

1 tsp za’atar

fine sea salt and black pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan force.

Put all the tomatoes into a 26cm round (or similar) shallow ovenproof dish along with the beans, sliced garlic, thyme sprigs, lemon zest strips, lemon juice and 75ml olive oil. Add 1/2 tsp salt and a good grind of pepper.

Mix together and nestle the halloumi slices among the beans, making sure the cheese remains exposed. 

Drizzle the remaining tbsp of oil over the cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the tomatoes have collapsed, released their juices and the halloumi is golden. 

Mix together the crushed garlic, thyme leaves, grated lemon zest and za’atar. Once the dish is out of the oven, swirl this through and serve.

This is an edited extract from Simple TOO by Yotam Ottolenghi, published by Penguin Random House.