If you’re looking for a one-pan dish to use capsicums and tomatoes, this Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi takes a classic French Basque pepper dish and adds golden baked halloumi for a simple, yet more substantial dish.
Let me tell you, I hoard my little jar of piment d’Espelette.
Espelette pepper is a French Basque chilli powder that’s both fruity and smoky. It’s often used more like seasoning to bring a gentle warmth rather than spicy heat, and it’s the key to the flavour of piperade and other Basque dishes.
Piperade is a well-known pepper and tomato dish built around slowly cooked down capsicums and tomatoes until soft and deeply flavoured.
This Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi keeps that slow-cooked base, but adds slices of halloumi that bake on top until golden. Topped with fresh herbs, boiled eggs and served with bread, it turns what is traditionally more of a side or accompaniment into something that feels like a full meal.
It’s simple cooking, mostly hands-off, and the kind of dish that works just as well for a relaxed dinner as it does placed in the middle of the table with bread to share.
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Why You’ll Love this Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi Recipe
- Simple ingredients. Capsicums, tomatoes, onion and garlic layered and slow cooked builds deep flavour with minimal effort.
- One pan cooking. Everything comes together in the same pan, then straight into the oven.
- Halloumi makes it a meal. Halloumi adds a salty element that turns the dish from a side into something you can serve as a main.
- Good for sharing. It’s easy to bring to the table and serve straight from the pan.
- Flexible serving options. Serve with eggs, bread, or alongside grilled chicken or fish.
What Is Piperade Basquaise?
Piperade Basquaise is a traditional dish from the French Basque region, built around capsicums (mild peppers), tomatoes, onion and garlic, slowly cooked down into a soft, thick, stew-like mixture.
It’s part of a style of cooking that focuses on simple, seasonal ingredients, cooked gently to bring out their natural flavour rather than relying on heavy seasoning or technique.
The dish is typically associated with late summer, when capsicums and tomatoes are at their best, and is often served with eggs or cured ham, making it either a side or a light main depending on how it’s finished.
Like many regional dishes, it varies from kitchen to kitchen. Some versions are looser and more sauce-like, others are cooked down further until thick and almost jammy.
This Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi keeps the core elements while adding baked halloumi for a slightly more substantial, modern variation.
What Is Espelette Pepper?
Espelette pepper, or piment d’Espelette, is a mild chilli powder from the French Basque region, specifically the village of Espelette in southwest France, near the Spanish boarder. It’s one of the defining flavours of Basque cooking and is used more like a seasoning than a source of heat, often replacing black pepper in traditional dishes.
Made from sun-dried peppers that are ground into a fine powder, it has a warm, rounded flavour with gentle heat, along with slightly sweet, smoky and almost fruity notes. If you can’t find it, there are a couple of substitution options; if you want to emphasise the fruitiness, go with a 1:1 swap of aleppo pepper. If you’re after the smoky flavour, use smoked paprika with a very small pinch of cayenne; you’ll need less than the amount of espelette pepper, aim for warmth and mild heat without overpowering the dish.
For this Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi recipe, I recommend using aleppo pepper if you can’t find espelette pepper.
Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi Recipe Ingredients
This dish is built on a handful of simple ingredients that cook down into something much greater than the sum of their parts. Exact quantities are in the recipe card below.
- Olive oil. Used to gently cook the vegetables and carry flavour through the dish.
- Red onion. Cooked until soft and translucent to form a mild, slightly sweet base for the piperade.
- Red and yellow capsicum. The backbone of the dish. As they cook down, they become soft, sweet and slightly jammy, giving the piperade its body and flavour.
- Fresh tomatoes. Added early to bring brightness and a lighter, fresher tomato flavour as they begin to break down.
- Canned tomatoes. Stirred through to deepen the flavour and help the sauce become thicker and more cohesive.
- Garlic. Adds savoury depth and balances the sweetness of the vegetables.
- Espelette pepper (piment d’Espelette). The spice that makes this dish! A mild Basque chilli powder that brings gentle warmth and a fruity yet smokey seasoned flavour rather than raw heat. If you can’t find it, use either 1:1 swap with aleppo pepper, or a quarter less smoked paprika with a tiny pinch of cayenne.
- Thyme and Bay leaves. Both herbs add depth and a slow-building savoury note to the sauce. Use fresh thyme and bay leaves if you can, or substitute with a half quantity of dried thyme and and an extra dried bay leaf.
- Halloumi. Sliced and baked until golden, adding saltiness and a firm, slightly chewy contrast to the soft vegetables.
- Parsley. More than just a garnish, add fresh parsley at the end to add an earthy freshness to lift the sweet-tart capsicum and tomato base.
- Boiled eggs. Optional, but served along with the halloumi, eggs turn a piperade dish into a full meal. A nod to traditional piperade!
- Bread. Something crusty works best for scooping and soaking up the sauce.
How to Make This Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi
This is a dish that builds gradually in one pan, with each step giving the vegetables time to soften and release their flavour. Once the vegetables are softened and the sauce is built, it’s finished in the oven with the halloumi.
- Cook the base. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the red onion and cook until softened and translucent. Add the capsicums and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften.
- Build the flavour. Add the fresh tomatoes, garlic, thyme, Espelette pepper and bay leaves. Stir to combine and cook until the tomatoes start to break down.
- Add the tomatoes. Stir through the canned tomatoes, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer until gently bubbling and starting to thicken.
- Add the halloumi. Nestle the hasselback sliced halloumi into the sauce so some of it sits above the surface. (Cutting the halloumi hasselback style lets the thick sauce bubble up in between.)
- Bake. Transfer the pan to a preheated oven and bake until the halloumi is golden and the sauce has thickened further.
- Finish and serve. Scatter over fresh parsley and serve with boiled eggs and bread.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Take your time with the capsicums. Let them soften properly before adding the tomatoes, this builds the base flavour of the dish.
- Don’t rush the simmer. The sauce should be gently bubbling, not boiling, so it thickens without catching.
- Leave some halloumi exposed. This helps it turn golden rather than just warming through in the sauce.
- Serve it hot from the pan. This is when the halloumi is at its best; soft inside with a golden edge.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this without halloumi?
Yes. You can leave it out entirely and serve with eggs, or add another protein like white beans or chickpeas.
What can I use instead of Espelette pepper?
A mix of sweet paprika and a small pinch of chilli flakes works well as a substitute.
Can I make this recipe ahead of time?
Yes. The base can be made in advance and reheated, then add the halloumi and bake just before serving.
How do I stop the halloumi becoming too rubbery?
Bake it just until golden and softened. Overcooking can make it firmer.
What else can I serve this with?
Chicken, fish, scrambled eggs or even spooned over roasted potatoes.
What type of pan should I use?
An ovenproof saute or frying pan works best so it can go from stovetop to oven.
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Once everything has had time to cook down and the halloumi comes out golden from the oven, this Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi is the kind of dish you can bring straight to the table and let people help themselves. Simple, but full of flavour.
🧁 If you make this Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi , I’d love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram so I can see what you’re cooking, and if you’d like more recipes like this, the newsletter is where I share them first.
Recipe
Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small red onion
- 2 red capsicums
- 1 yellow capsicum
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, picked
- 1 teaspoons espelette pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 400 g chopped canned tomatoes
- 180 g halloumi
- Fresh parsley, for garnish
- Hard boiled or jammy eggs and bread to serve, optional
Instructions
- To make the Piperade Basquaise with Halloumi, start by slicing the red onion into thin, half moon rounds, the capsicum into long, thin strips, the fresh tomato into a small dice and the garlic into thin slices.
- Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat. Add the red onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened and just translucent. Add the red and yellow capsicum and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften.1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 small red onion, 2 red capsicums, 1 yellow capsicum
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Add the fresh tomatoes, garlic, thyme, Espelette pepper and bay leaves. Stir to combine and cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down.2 tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, 1 teaspoons espelette pepper, 2 bay leaves
- Add the canned tomatoes and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking for 8-10 minutes, or until the sauce is gently bubbling and starting to thicken.400 g chopped canned tomatoes
- Slice the halloumi into thick pieces. Using a sharp knife, cut each piece hasselback-style by making thin, evenly spaced slices across the top, stopping just before you cut all the way through so the base stays intact.180 g halloumi
- Nestle the hasselback halloumi slices into the capsicum and tomato sauce. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the halloumi is golden and softened and the sauce has thickened further.
- If serving with boiled or jammy eggs and toast, prepare them while the piperade is in the oven so everything is ready to serve together
- Remove the piperade from the oven. Scatter over the parsley and serve with eggs and buttered toast.Fresh parsley, Hard boiled or jammy eggs and bread to serve
