A colourful feast for the eyes as well as your taste buds. The chickpeas DO make a difference, and the baked feta mellows becomes creamy and almost nutty, stir it into the rest and scrape up every last bit of lemony flavour. You do NOT want to leave any behind!
Serve it with Naan or flatbread (or pasta) as dinner or as a side with the protein of your choice.
Ingredients
8 0z block of your favourite feta
1/3 cup Eureka Lemon Olive Oil
3 to 4 Cup cherry or grape tomatoes, pierced & halved according to size
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 chili pepper, thinly sliced
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or make your own from 1 Cup dried)
4 – 6 Tbsp fresh chopped herbs, (your choice, I used cilantro & mint)
Toasted naan or flatbread, for serving
Directions
Heat oven to 400°F.
Lightly oil a 9″ X 13″ casserole dish and place the feta in the middle. Scatter tomatoes around the feta and pour the Eureka Lemon Olive Oil over everything and gently toss to coat with oil. Scatter chili pepper, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.
Roast for 15 minutes, until tomatoes begin to release some juices (that’s why you pierce & halve them). Add chickpeas to tomatoes around the feta, plus more salt and pepper, stir gently to mix with tomatoes and coat with oil. Return pan to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes.
If required, turn the oven to 450°F and set it to broil. Broil for about 2 – 5 minutes (watching), until the tomatoes and feta begin to brown.
To serve/eat stir the softened feta into the tomato-chickpea mixture. Plate and scatter with fresh chopped herbs. A squeeze of fresh lime juice would never be wrong either!
