Do you always manage to eat your ‘5 a day’?  Count them up.  Be honest now – I’m pretty sure a glass of wine doesn’t count as one portion of fruit!

When I feel like I’m edging into vegetable deficit, I make Roasted Vegetable and Halloumi Pasta.  It’s a really easy way to slam-dunk your 5 a day in one go, but the addition of the halloumi cheese stops it feeling too sanctimonious!

What’s more, once you’ve chopped everything up, you can really just leave it in the oven to cook itself while you have that glass of wine, just for good measure.

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Roasted Vegetable and Halloumi Pasta

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 Aubergine
• 2 Courgettes
• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 500g cherry tomatoes
• 2 leeks
• 250g block halloumi
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 dsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 dsp olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 400g pasta shapes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170c (fan) or 180c otherwise.

Slice the leeks into 1cm rounds, chop the other veggies and the halloumi into small cubes, about 2 cm across.  Keep the tomatoes whole. Crush the garlic. Throw everything except the pasta into a metal roasting tin and drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar and sprinkle on the herbs.  Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Roast the vegetable and halloumi mixture in the oven for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

In the meantime, cook the pasta.  When the vegetables are soft, remove the bay leaves.  Drain the pasta and stir it into the veggies then serve.

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