Escalivada

Name: Escalivada
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 3 red peppers; 2 aubergines; 2 medium onions, unpeeled; 2 garlic cloves, sliced paper-thin; 80 ml extra virgin olive oil; 1 tbsp sherry vinegar (optional); Flaky salt and black pepper; Chopped flat-leaf parsley

Peppers, aubergines and onions roasted whole until smoky and collapsing, then peeled and served in strips with garlic and olive oil.

VeganGluten-free#catalan#roasted vegetables#peppers#aubergine#summer

Photo : Emi Yañez · CC BY 2.0

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 50 min
Total: 65 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Put the whole peppers, aubergines and onions on a tray and brush them with a little oil.
Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, turning halfway, until the skins are blackened in places and the flesh is completely soft.
Put the peppers in a bowl, cover with a plate and leave to steam for 15 minutes so the skins slip off easily.
Peel the peppers, aubergines and onions, deseed the peppers and cut everything into wide strips. Keep any juices.
Arrange the vegetables on a platter, alternating colours, scatter over the garlic and drizzle with olive oil, the reserved juices and the vinegar if using.
Season and leave for at least 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature with parsley and toasted bread.

Escalivar means “to cook in the embers” in Catalan. A hot oven gets close to that smoky flavour, and a few minutes under the grill at the end pushes it further.

Nutrition · per serving

Calories: 265 kcal
Protein: 3.6 g
Fat: 19.1 g
Carbohydrate: 23.8 g
Fibre: 8.3 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

Why roast the vegetables whole rather than cut up?

The skin traps steam and cooks the flesh in its own juices, which concentrate instead of evaporating. Cut open, peppers and aubergines dry out in the oven and lose the juice that becomes the dressing at the end.

Why let the peppers sweat under a plate after roasting?

The trapped steam lifts the skin away from the flesh. Fifteen minutes is enough, and they then peel with your fingertips, with no knife and no tearing of the pulp, which should stay in wide strips.

Should I rinse the peeled vegetables to remove bits of charred skin?

No, water would carry off the smoky juices and oil that make the dish. Wipe your fingers between vegetables and accept a few specks of blackened skin. Save every drop of escaping juice to pour over the platter instead.

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