A simple but flavorful tray bake dinner with spiced feta, roasted potatoes, mushrooms and asparagus. You will be amazed how much flavor is packed into this simple meal! A healthy vegetarian dinner that cooks easily on one baking tray, and is ready within the hour.
Well, it seems like we all love a good tray bake around here. Or sheet pan meal. Whatever you want to call it! Today we’re putting together something quite lovely on the ol’ baking tray. Roasted potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus and spiced + honey drizzled feta. Sound good?
It is!
What You Need
A big baking tray + this haul …
This recipe really suits cooler spring and evening because you’ve got the new potatoes, you’ve got the asparagus and you’ve got the lemon. But it’s still really comforting and warming.
Some thoughts on our veggie selection:
- When asparagus is not in season you could consider swapping in another vegetable such as broccoli, or using frozen asparagus (cooking time would be the same, because we’re pushing the limits of asparagus roasting time in this recipe anyway – it would actually work better to cook from frozen.)
- Juicy mushrooms are there too because they add an additional texture you’ll appreciate, I used portobellos but you could swap in just about any mushroom. If mushrooms don’t float your boat, try eggplant?
- If you’d prefer to use sweet potatoes, you certainly can, and won’t need to parboil them, just chop them into reasonably small chunks. The lack of parboiling is a strong argument for using sweet potatoes, but sometimes I just like a solid white Tater, you know?
Let’s talk a little more about the feta though, because it kinda steals the show.
The Dukkah Crusted Feta…
… is amazing, as you can see.
But what is dukkah? Do I need to buy something special?
Dukkah is an Egyptian spice blend which not enough people seem to know about. But NO you shouldn’t need to buy anything from a speciality shop. Your supermarket may carry it, but it’s easy to make at home with staple ingredients.
Dukkah is a mix of nuts, sesame seeds, and spices which means it’s really more than a spice blend, it can be used for texture and to make a sort of crust, which is what we do here.
If you’re making your own dukkah, these recipes will help you out:
- The easiest recipe I have seen has just four ingredients.
- If you want to invest a little more effort, this recipe contains a range of nuts and the post gives a little more information about dukkah and some other ideas for customisation.
If you don’t want to use dukkah
Don’t stress! Just roll the feta in sesame seeds and any spices you feel like adding. Or don’t! You can roast the feta plain, or with just the honey, and that works fine too if you’re craving simpler tastes.
How to Make It
A little visual run down before we get to the printable recipe:
We start by getting our parboiled potatoes + mushrooms + shallots roasting. They need longer than the asparagus and feta, which get added later.
While they get a head start in the oven, we can prep that feta.
And then they get added to the tray alongside the asparagus for the final stretch.
How to Serve
This can be a big, filling dinner for two but if you want to stretch it out a little further:
- Add a cup of soup.
- Add a salad, something like my Green Olive Grain Salad would be excellent.
- Add some boiled or poached eggs.
- Serve with some sourdough toast or other tasty bread.
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out my Roasted Halloumi with Broccoli & Smashed Potatoes! This is a similar recipe that loads a baking tray with cheese, potatoes and veggies to make an amazing healthy dinner!
Roasted Feta & Potato Tray Bake
Ingredients
- 450 g (1 lb) baby potatoes, sliced into rounds about 1/3rd inch or 1.5cms thick
- 250 g (9 oz) portobello mushrooms, sliced
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 6 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 125 g (4.5 oz) asparagus spears, trimmed to remove tougher bottom stem. Choose thicker / larger stalks.
- 200 g (7 oz) block of feta cheese, cut widthways into two equally sized pieces
- 2 Tbsp dukkah, approximate
- 2 Tbsp honey, approximate
- 1 handful parsley, chopped
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Bring a small saucepan of water to boil, and add the potato slices. Simmer for 3 minutes until they are softened, then drain and allow to dry while you prep the rest of the ingredients.450 g baby potatoes
- Heat the oven to 200C.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the parboiled potatoes, mushroom slices, garlic and shallots. Pour the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over them and mix to ensure everything is well coated.450 g baby potatoes, 250 g portobello mushrooms, 6 Tbsp olive oil, 4 cloves garlic, 2 shallots, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Scatter the potato and mushroom mix across your largest baking sheet, spaced out as much as possible. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes and mushrooms are cooking, prep your feta cheese. Scatter the dukkah onto a chopping board. Drizzle a little honey on each side of the feta, and then press it into the dukkah to coat it. Press some into the sides too. You won't get the feta fully coated, the aim isn't for the dukkah to form a complete crust, but just get as much stuck to the feta as you can.200 g block of feta cheese, 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp dukkah
- Remove the baking tray from the oven. Flip the mushrooms and potatoes over and push them more to the sides of the pan to clear some space in the middle.
- Add the feta slices to the pan, spritzing or drizzling a little olive oil on top.
- Add the asparagus spears to the pan, and lightly drizzle with oil. Add a little salt and pepper if desired too. Try to leave some space around the feta, but you can let the asparagus spears touch each other.125 g asparagus spears
- Place back in the oven for another 20 minutes, until the feta is starting to brown at the edges.
- Drizzle a little extra honey over the roasted feta, if desired.2 Tbsp honey
- Serve with lemon wedges and fresh parsley for garnish.1 handful parsley, 1 lemon
Made this on Saturday night, it was amazing!!! Also threw in a bit of tenderstem broccoli. The honey drizzled over the feta was fabulous!!
I am so happy to hear this Janine! Adding tenderstem broccoli is a brilliant idea! Thanks for coming back to let me know how it worked out for you, it really makes my day 🙂