Sheet-Pan Roasted Halloumi & Broccolini

This nutritious and filling vegetarian side could easily be the centerpiece of your dinner table thanks to its star ingredient: Halloumi. This Greek cheese gets crispy on the outside and tender on the inside when cooked, but doesn’t melt. Almost meaty in its profile, briny Halloumi has a satisfying stretchiness akin to the texture of fresh mozzarella, but with a pleasing exterior crackle when cooked properly. To achieve this effect, we use a blazing oven to char the Halloumi and broccolini, leading to a savory crunch that plays the perfect counterpoint to the creamy, herby, and tart gremolata sauce dolloped on top.

Using a food processor keeps prep to a minimum, staying true to the sheet pan ethos that less work is more. You don’t even need to remove the parsley leaves from their stems, since the food processor chops it all for you. If you’re feeling fancy, you can give the walnuts a brief toast in the oven or on the stove to deepen their flavor before incorporating them into the sauce, but that’s extra credit—just let them cool first so they don’t cook the herbs in the sauce and cause it to darken. The vibrant green of the sauce makes the dish pleasing to the eye as well as the palate.

While fresh garlic is traditional in gremolata, you can mellow its piquant bite by marinating it for 10 or so minutes in the lemon juice with a pinch of salt. And while parsley and lemon are the other classic elements of a gremolata, feel free to use different herbs or acidic elements to mix things up—you’ll be coming back to this side again and again.

Did you try making this? Let us know how it went in the comments!