ESCALIVADA (ROAST VEGETABLES) WITH VARIOUS MEAT RECIPES

Escalivada is another traditional Catalan dish which is served mainly as a side dish for barbecued meats. It is basically made of roast whole capsicums, onions, eggplants and potatoes, then cooled and sliced and dressed with salt, pepper and olive oil. You can add a touch of vinegar if you like, but not too much. I have added my personal touch with a dressing with ingredients I love, but it's not a traditional dressing and don't have to use it if you prefer a more plain flavour.

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 red capsicums (or a variety or colours red, green and yellow)
2 medium eggplants
4 potatoes
2 onions

METHOD:
To make the escalivada, preheat oven at 180 C. 
Wrap the whole onions and potatoes on aluminium foil and put on an oven tray covered with baking paper. 
Rub the whole capsicums and eggplant with a bit of oil. Put on tray and bake in oven for about 30 minutes. 

Turn vegetables over and put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Remove the capsicums and eggplants (check they are cooked) from the oven and put on a large bowl.

Check that the potatoes and onion are cooked by inserting a skewer. If they are, remove the aluminium foil and put them on a plate. Let them cool down a bit.

When ready to handle, peel the capsicums and the eggplants. 

Peel the potatoes and the onions.

Cut the eggplants and the capsicums into small bits and slice the potatoes and onion thickly. Put them on a serving tray and cover with glad wrap. 

Keep them at room temperature. 
You can serve it next to meat, see below for ideas, or alone as an entrée. You can put different layers of vegetables in a round mould if you want to be a bit fancy.

Just decorate it with a bit of basil and then add a splash of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

I added a splash of flavoured oils: garlic, chili and truffle and a bit of beetroot vinegar. It was lovely.

VARIATIONS:

Escalivada with Salsa
2 small tomatoes, finely chopped
6 gherkins, finely chopped
8 olives, deseeded and finely chopped
1 Tbsp capers
6 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

To make the tomato salsa, just mix all ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.

Pour over the escalivada and serve.

Escalivada with anchovies and goat cheese with Bagna Rotou dressing.

125g goat cheese, crumbed

a few anchovy fillets

Bagna Rotou dressing

8 basil leaves

4 anchovy fillets

1 small onion

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp vinegar

2 Tbsp parsley

Put the anchovy fillets and the crumbed cheese over the cooked veggies.

Put under a preheated 180°C for about 2-3 minutes.

Pour the dressing over and serve.

Moroccan Chicken

4 chicken thighs
2-3 Tbsp Moroccan spices
salt
olive oil

For the chicken, cut the chicken thighs into thick slices, add some salt and the Moroccan spices and mix well.

Put some oil in a frying pan. Add the chicken and fry until it's cooked through and it's nice and golden.

To serve, put some vegetables on a plate, dress with the tomato salsa and add some chicken. It's sooo delicious and healthy!!

Serves 2-4

Escalivada with pork with sage and halloumi filling

Make the escalivada as per recipe, but don't add any salsa. Just season with salt and pepper and then drizzle with olive oil.
To make the pork fillet with halloumi, please click here to see the recipe. It's just so yummy!!