Escalivada - Catalan roasted vegetables

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.

Step 2

Prick the skin of the eggplant/aubergine and pepper with the tip of a sharp knife in a few places. If you like, peel the skin of the onion but you can also leave it on.

Step 3

Place the eggplant, pepper, onion, tomato, and unpeeled garlic clove in a roasting dish or on a baking sheet. Drizzle over a little olive oil (around 1/2 tbsp) and rub all over the skins. Place the dish in the oven and roast for around one hour until all the vegetables are really soft and tender. If needed, turn them part way through roasting to help char slightly on other side.

Step 4

Carefully remove the eggplant and pepper from the dish and place inside a large plastic freezer bag. Loosely close up and leave to steam in the bag to loosen the skin.

Step 5

Meanwhile, let the other vegetables cool enough to handle then remove the garlic from the skin and mash into the remaining olive oil, along with the vinegar if using.

Step 6

Peel the tomato and cut into medium-thick strips/slices - you can leave the seeds in if you like, but you may want to remove for a more even texture and to avoid too many juices. Peel the onion and slice thinly (or cut into rings if you prefer).

Step 7

Remove the pepper and eggplant from the bag once cool and peel off the skin. Remove the stem and seeds from the pepper then cut the flesh into strips. Peel the eggplant into strips - you don't have to remove the seeds but I find the texture and color of the dish is nicer without the large chunks.

Step 8

Lay all of the vegetables on a plate, either grouped together or in alternating stripes. Drizzle over the garlic oil and serve.