Escalivada (Catalan roasted vegetables)

Escalivada is a traditional Catalan recipe of roasted vegetables like peppers and aubergines tossed with olive oil and garlic. Perfect for a starter or side

Ingredients

• 2 small aubergines
• 2 red peppers
• 2 small onions
• olive oil
• 2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed
• a small handful parsley, chopped
• (optional) anchovies or goat’s cheese

Steps

1. Roast the vegetables whole, ideally by placing them over hot coals on a barbecue. Otherwise brush them with oil and grill them until the skin blackens and they are soft.
2. When they are cooked, wrap the vegetables in newspaper so that they finish cooking in their own steam. This also makes the skins easy to remove.
3. Once the vegetables are cool and peeled, slice the aubergines into long strips, remove the seeds from the peppers and cut into quarters, and cut the onions into quarters.
4. Toss the salad together with the garlic, olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and parsley. You can also cross each portion of escalivada with two anchovies, or add a slice of goat’s cheese and melt under the grill if you like.