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DOUBLE POTATO AND HALLOUMI BAKE
I first made this for a piece I was writing for Vogue on the mood-enhancing properties of carbohydrates, as promoted by such books as - and how's this for a title? - Potatoes Not Prozac. The fact that shortly after filing the article I went on a low-carbohydrate diet should not worry us too much here, for I should say that no one has eaten this without being mad for it. It's a simple idea, and as simple to execute. What's more, there's a balance between the components - bland and sweet potatoes, almost-caramelised onion and garlic, more juicy sweetness with the peppers and then the uncompromising plain saltiness of the halloumi (which you should be able to get easily in a supermarket) - that seems to add to the eater's equilibrium in turn. You could substitute feta, or do without the cheese altogether if you wanted to serve this as a side dish to roast chicken, say, but in which case be generous with the Maldon salt once the bake comes out of the oven.
And forgetting about pseudo-scientific and other optimistic theories for a while; this is so upliftingly beautiful to look at: real good-mood colours.
Recipe posted by Nigella
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato, the orange-fleshed American variety
- 1 large Desiree potato or other red/firm potato
- 1 red onion
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 1/2 head of garlic
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Black pepper
- 125g halloumi cheese, sliced as thinly as you can
- Ovenproof baking dish, 25 x 15cm
Method
Serves: 2-3.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.
- Cut the sweet potato into rough 4cm cubes and the Desiree slightly smaller (2½cm) as the sweet potato will cook more quickly. Halve the red onion, then cut each half into 4-6 segments, discarding any tough outer skin. De-seed the peppers and cut into 2½cm squares, and separate the cloves of garlic.
- Put everything into a large roasting tin or whatever you want to use (it should be big, otherwise use two dishes) and, using your hands, give the vegetables a good coating of olive oil. Season with black pepper, but no salt as the cheese will make it salty (and anyway, the salt will make water leech out).
- Cook for 45 minutes, by which time the vegetables should be cooked through and here and there tinged with brown. You'll need to turn the oven up to maximum or light the grill for the endgame: so place the thinly sliced cheese on top of the bake, and put it back in the very hot oven or under the grill until the theese has melted and turned slightly brown on top, about 5-10 minutes. Serve straight out of the roasting tin.
Comments
Lovely recipe. We usually double the amount of halloumi .
Posted by herbeano on 14th May 2011 at 19.22
I love this for dinner. So simple, but so satisfying. Its great with sausages thrown in as well. And sometimes I forgo the cheese and dollop sour cream instead. Heavenly!
Posted by Anjoel22 on 21st Oct 2011 at 3.40