This fresh green sauce is the perfect addition to honey roasted courgettes and chickpeas – an easy, summery dish with plenty of flavour. Chilli and raw garlic bring heat to the sauce, preserved lemons give a deep, salty-citrus burst and a touch of honey rounds everything off; I love it with Mediterranean vegetables, crispy baked chickpeas and halloumi – and there are endless variations to try.

If you haven’t used preserved lemons before, they’re worth using for this recipe. Their fermentation softens the bitterness of the rind, creating an intense, fragrant citrus flavour that makes the sauce more complex and delicious. Any leftover preserved lemons are great chopped through a potato salad or stirred into a stew.

Servings:   2–3 plus extra sauce           Preparation:  45 minutes

Ingredients
Sauce: 
30g                Coriander
20g                Parsley
20g                Dill (or 10g mint)
60ml              Olive oil
1 tsp              Honey
½-1                 Garlic clove
1-2                 Green chillis with seeds
1-2 tbsp        Preserved lemon, seeds removed
1                     Lemon (zest and juice)

Traybake:
2                     Courgettes
1x400g can  Chickpeas
200g              Halloumi
1tsp               Dried oregano
1tbsp             Olive oil
1-2 tsp           Honey

Tip: If you don’t have preserved lemons, use extra lemon zest and juice instead.     

 Method

1.    Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional).

2.    For the sauce, blitz the coriander, parsley, dill, olive oil and honey using a food processor or stick blender.

3.    Add half a clove of garlic, 1 chilli, 1 tbsp of chopped preserved lemon, the zest of half a lemon and some of the juice. Blend to a spoonable sauce.

4.    Taste and adjust, adding more garlic or chilli for heat, preserved lemon for a salty, citrus depth, or more oil or lemon juice until the sauce is silky smooth.

5.    Slice or dice the courgettes, toss them with drained and rinsed chickpeas, dried oregano, olive oil and seasoning. Spread onto a baking tray.

6.    Roast for 20 minutes and then add slices of halloumi and drizzle over 1–2 tsp honey. Return the tray to the oven for 10–15 minutes until the honey and cheese begin to caramelise.

7.   Serve warm, spooning the sauce generously over the traybake.