Spicy Beany Ratatouille with Halloumi (vegetarian)

Spicy vegetable mix topped with roasted halloumi and served with sweet potato slices

Spicy Beany Ratatouille topped with Grilled Halloumi (vegetarian)

You can top anything with halloumi, more or less. It’s so versatile, and such a friendly cheese. Like an egg, it keeps its shape, but nestles down into the spicy mix you cook it into.  This meal is sort of like a shakshuka with halloumi instead of eggs, and with beans. So not very like a shakshuka except that it’s warm, comforting, tasty, spicy, tomatoey and gorgeous.  The bean stew is very adaptable according to the ingredients you have in your cupboard or receive in your vegetable box. I think halloumi goes very well in a mix with celery and peppers, but you can add aubergines (I would have, just didn’t have any in the vegetable drawer) or green beans, any firm veg you have around.

The spices are important, and a good warm mix of cumin, paprika and some chipotle in adobe gives you a glorious glow.

It’s a wonderful dish to have made ahead of time and just pop it in the oven when you get home from parents’ evening to have ready in 40 minutes with no hassle while you unpack the school bags and wash out the lunch boxes.

I served it with roasted slices of sweet potato, to make the most of the oven being on, and with a dollop of plain Greek yoghurt sprinkled with fresh coriander and a baton of garlic bread.  My friend Louise inspired me to make this when she hosted our Fine Wine and Dine Book Club recently, so thanks to you, Louise for the idea.
 
Serves 4               Timings:  30 minutes initial preparation, then it can be left for a day, and 40 minutes in the oven before you eat.

• 1 pack halloumi, 225g (you can use more if you have very hungry people to feed)
• 2 medium onions, about 150g, peeled and sliced
• 1 red or yellow pepper, de-seeded and sliced
• 2 sticks celery, de-stringed and cut into small slices
• 1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and squashed with salt
• ½ fresh chilli if you have one, chopped finely
• ½ teaspoon ancho chilli sauce (or a good shake of Tabasco from your store cupboard)
• 1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo sauce – which is about one chipotle, crushed up
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 2 fresh bay leaves
• Ground spices:  1 teaspoon coriander, ½ teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Shake of Henderson’s relish
• Teaspoon marmite

 
Extra:  About 750g sweet potatoes, sliced into rounds 1cm thick, a tub of plain Greek yoghurt, and a handful of fresh coriander, chopped.  1 baguette of garlic bread.

In a heavy pan (I use my Le Creuset), gently fry the onion, pepper and celery in a little vegetable oil until softened. Add the garlic, fresh chilli and the dried oregano. Stir and fry for a minute, then add the ground spices, stir well, and add the tins of beans and tomatoes. Add another half tin of water and the chilli sauce and chopped chipotle, along with the Henderson’s Relish, marmite and bay leaves.

Stir well together and simmer for about half an hour to deepen the flavours. Taste, add salt or a little more water if needed. You don’t want too liquid a mix, so don’t add too much water. You will be able to taste the lovely warmth of the herbs and adobo sauce but it shouldn’t blow your head off.

At this stage, you can cool down the mixture and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days.

When ready to cook, heat the bean stew gently in a pan and pre heat the oven to 200°C.

Prepare your slices of sweet potato – about 1cm thick, and toss them with oil, salt and pepper in a roasting tin.

Place the bean stew in a roasting tin that will take the stew about 3cm deep – you might need a smallish square tin rather than the big tin you'd use for roast chicken. Remove the bay leaves.

Slice the halloumi into 8 slices and place on top of the bean stew.

Put the sweet potato slices in the top of the oven and bean stew on the second shelf for about 40 minutes. Turn the sweet potato slices occasionally.

At the end, the halloumi should be lightly browned on top – if not, give it a quick flash under the grill just to get that lovely sticky texture.

Serve with a dollop of cool Greek yoghurt and some chopped fresh coriander.