Recipe of the Month - March
Escalivada
Serves 4–6 as a tapa
Ate this recently in Barcelona, along with a lot of fried artichokes. A lot of fried artichokes! It is sensational when spooned onto melted cheese sandwiches, especially if they have a layer of Spanish chorizo, and/or French black pepper-corn studded rosette salami under the cheese.
- 1 eggplant
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1/2 big red onion, or 1 small to medium red onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 canned tomatoes, or very ripe flavourful fresh tomatoes, diced (include the juices)
- 2–3 teaspoons salt preserved capers, or drained and rinse vinegar capers
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3–4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and dash of Tabasco to taste
Flame-grill or char the eggplant, red, green and yellow peppers, by roasting them on top of a barbecue or gas stove, and moving them around so that they are evenly not too heavily charred. Remove from heat and place in a bowl, then cover and leave to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel. This can be done a day ahead of time. (If you are using fresh tomatoes, quickly char or broil to condense their juices, then proceed with recipe).
Peel and dice all the vegetables. Coarsely dice and tear apart the eggplant. Place in bowl.
Chop the peppers, leaving an irregular mixture that forms a sort of cohesive mass when pushed into a pile. Place in bowl with eggplant.
Dice the tomatoes and add to the mixture.
Chop the capers and lemon zest (unless using a zester in which case it will be in fine strips already). Add to the vegetables, along with the lemon juice and olive oil, Stir in well to combine, then season to taste with salt and Tabasco (only a drop or two, you don't want it to be hot, only a few drops of the hot stuff to enhance the rest).
Serve right away, or chill until ready to eat.
© Marlena Spieler 2004