DELICIOUS Chorizo, Halloumi & Potato Tray Bake!

Dear Reader, I hope you'll give this chorizo, halloumi and potato tray bake recipe a go! It's one of the most delicious dinners with 10 minutes prep total! This is definitely a pushy recipe.

This tray bake is so easy and has a tumble full of vegetables like onion, garlic, capsicum and potatoes combined with spicy Spanish chorizo and grilled halloumi on top! Serve this with lemon wedges and bread and you have a delicious dinner prepared in a short amount of time!

Which chorizo to use? If you have a favourite chorizo then please use this as it is the star ingredient. I used a Rodrigues Brothers chorizo which isn't a very smoky one but truthfully I like its mild smokiness as I find some too smoky to my taste.

Can I use other vegetables? Definitely! Use sweet potato, broccolini, cherry tomatoes, zucchini or diced eggplant or your favourite roasted vegetable. But I really hope you'll give this version a go first ;)

I tend to save this dish up for when I don't have much time up my sleeve and all I have is 10 minutes active cooking time.

I had a recent case of running out of time while we were away in Brunswick Heads for my birthday. We decided to split the 9 hour drive up and stop overnight in Crescent Heads which is a 5 hour drive from Sydney. The main reason for the stop is that we had Teddy and he doesn't fare well on long car rides and we have to stop often for him.

We found a really nice dog friendly Airbnb property to stay in. We arrived quite late at around 9pm and stayed there for one night and then woke up the next morning to continue onto our journey to Brunswick Heads.

That morning while I was in the shower around 10:30am I heard a loud knocking at the door and some loud voices below. The tone wasn't angry but it wasn't exactly friendly. When I finished my shower I asked Mr NQN who was at the door.

"It was the cleaners, apparently we have overstayed and had to get out at 10am. Also we have to do a whole bunch of stuff," he said before adding, "They said they were really under the pump." Dealing with people is not his forte or favourite thing especially cross people so he was panicking.

In our tired state that night before we didn't read the piece of paper that was on the kitchen bench. It said that we had to strip the beds of the sheets and place them in a bag as well as wipe down all the surfaces!

Still wrapped in a towel, I rushed around shoving things in my bags and trying to get everything done including the wiping down and sheet packing. We left in record time and we were both a bit frazzled by it all. It wasn't exactly the most relaxing start to the holiday.

"I'm just going to check the checkout time," I said because I usually look at these things. And sure enough, our check out time was 11am after all!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you pay attention to checkout times? Have you ever had to rush to check out of your accommodation? How often do you need 10 minute pre dishes?

Chorizo, Halloumi & Potato Tray Bake

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Serves: 4 people

• 500g/1.1lbs potatoes
• Salt
• 3 x chorizo sausages (around 375g), sliced
• 1 large red onion (250g/8.8ozs, I mean BIG), peeled
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
• 1 large red capsicum, sliced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 200g/7ozs. halloumi, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 lemon and fresh bread to serve

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and grease a baking tray. Cut the potatoes into chunks and then steam or boil these (I pop it in the microwave with an inch of water and cover and cook on 100% for 5 minutes). Drain and add salt to the potatoes and set aside.

Step 2 - Slice the chorizo up and place it in the baking tray on the bottom. Peel the onion and slice it into 8 crescents and add this and the garlic and capsicum and the salted potato on top. Drizzle with olive oil and smoked paprika and bake for 30 minutes turning the mixture after 20 minutes to make sure that the mixture roasts evenly.

Step 3 - Switch the oven onto grill and add halloumi on top of the bake and grill for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pepper, parsley and serve with lemon and fresh bread.