The great Catalan classic of whole eggplants, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes roasted over live coals, peeled while warm, and simply dressed with olive oil.
Ingredients
- 4 pieces firm purple eggplants
- 4 pieces fleshy red bell peppers
- 4 pieces large yellow onions
- 4 pieces ripe field-grown tomatoes
- 2 cloves fresh pink garlic cloves
- 90 ml fruity extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches coarse sea salt
- to taste whole black peppercorns
- 0.5 bunches fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 8 slices crusty sourdough country bread
Method
- Prepare a solid bed of hardwood coals with no high flames: the fire is ready when the logs are glowing red, covered in gray ash (around 250 °C / 480 °F at the lower grate level), and only crackling faintly. Set a grate 10 cm / 4 inches above the embers or clear a direct-heat cooking zone in the fireplace or grill.
- Rinse and dry the eggplants, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Keep the vegetables whole with their skins intact. Prick only the eggplants in 4 or 5 spots with the tip of a knife to keep them from bursting under steam pressure.
- Place the onions and eggplants first on the grate directly over the hot coals (230 °C to 250 °C / 450 °F to 480 °F). Cook for 45 to 50 minutes, turning them a quarter-turn every 10 minutes with tongs: the skins should be evenly charred and black, the eggplants collapsed and soft to the touch, and the onions tender all the way to the core (around 90 °C / 195 °F internal temperature).
- Add the bell peppers to the hot zone (220 °C to 250 °C / 430 °F to 480 °F) while the first vegetables finish cooking. Grill for 25 to 30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until the skins are blistered and blackened over at least 80% of their surface and a faint hiss of steam escapes from the flesh.
- Place the tomatoes around the cooler outer edge (around 150 °C to 160 °C / 300 °F to 320 °F). Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, turning gently halfway through, until the skins split from top to bottom, juices begin to bead, and the flesh yields to gentle finger pressure without collapsing.
- Transfer all roasted vegetables to a large deep dish, cover tightly with a clean kitchen towel or lid, and let rest for 20 minutes: the trapped steam softens the remaining fibers and allows the charred skins to slip off effortlessly.
- Peel the warm bell peppers using your fingers or the back of a knife, then discard the stems and seeds without rinsing in water. Tear the flesh into long strips about 1.5 cm / 0.6 inch wide along the grain of the fibers.
- Slice open the eggplants, scoop out the melting flesh with a spoon leaving the charred skin behind, and shred it into soft ribbons. Peel the onions by removing the outer charred layers and cut them into 4 to 6 tender wedges. Gently peel the tomatoes and crush them coarsely to release their juices.
- Arrange the vegetables attractively by variety on a wide serving platter without mashing them together. Season with grated garlic, coarse sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper, then drizzle generously with extra-virgin olive oil.
- Let the escalivada rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature to allow the olive oil to naturally emulsify with the smoky cooking juices.
- Toast the country bread slices over the remaining embers for 1 to 2 minutes per side until golden and crisp. Sprinkle the escalivada with chopped flat-leaf parsley and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 401 kcal
- Protein
- 6.35 g
- Carbohydrate
- 39.66 g
- Fat
- 23.6 g
- Fibre
- 4.58 g
- Calcium
- 20.29 mg
- Iron
- 1.16 mg
- Magnesium
- 21.13 mg
