Escalivada: traditional recipe

Less is more, and if not, tell that to the escalivada, a succulent dish consisting of roasted vegetables that are common within the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Aragon. With aubergine, red pepper, onion and tomato as the indisputable main ingredients, the vegetable escalivada is a traditional recipe from the Mediterranean cuisine. It is easy to make and tremendously successful and can be served as a starter as well as a side dish for meat or fish.  

Low in calories and extremely nutritious, the escalivada is a recipe that does not need  demanding preparation and its seasonal ingredients contribute to the consumption of local produce. In fact, the origin of this dish takes us back to precisely this point: escalivar means steaming, baking or cooking on the embers of a fire, something that the rural communities would have done in the past to make the most of their market garden produce.  

The escalivada salad has remained all the way to our time and there’s no doubt that it is here to stay, although instead of cooking it as in the past, we cook our escalivada in the oven. Now, let’s see how we prepare this recipe.

Ingredients for the escalivada

To make our delicious escalivada, you will need the following ingredients. Note them down:

• 1 aubergine
• 1 red pepper
• 2 onions
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 tomatoes
• oil
• salt
  
  

How to make a vegetable escalivada

Firstly, wash the vegetables thoroughly and dry them on kitchen roll. Remove the outer skin on the onions and the head of garlic. To make the escalivada in the oven, pre-heat it to between 170 y 200 ºC (depending on the power of your oven), use a baking tray to put all the vegetables into the oven, except for the tomatoes which take less time to cook.  Put a dash of extra virgin olive oil over the vegetables and leave them to cook in the oven for an hour; then turn the vegetables, add the tomatoes and roast everything for another 30 minutes more. Adjust the cooking time depending on the size of the vegetables.

When the vegetables are cooked and soft, remove the tray from the oven and let it cool before proceeding. Then remove the skin and the seeds from the aubergine and the pepper. Now is also the time to remove the outer layers of the onion and the garlic (by pressing on the roasted garlic head) and then, cut all the vegetables. Cut the peppers and aubergines into strips, and chop the tomatoes and onions, then put everything into a container. Add a pinch of salt and drizzle the vegetables with the juices remaining in the tray.

How to serve the escalivada

Flaked cod, anchovies in brine, tuna, and a boiled egg are splendid accompaniments to the escalivada which in this respect, has certain similarities with dishes like the esgarraet. Another advantage is that, as you can eat it hot or cold, it is a recipe which is particularly ideal for the summer.