Escalivada
The name comes from the Catalan escalivar — to roast in embers. That describes the whole technique: the vegetables are roasted whole, until the skin blackens, and only then peeled. Charred skin protects the flesh from drying while giving it a roasted, faintly smoky flavour. The other detail that separates escalivada from ordinary roasted vegetables: the flesh is torn into long strips, never cut.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Roasting 60 min
- Steaming 20 min
- Peeling 20 min
- Marinating 30 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneOil the vegetables and prick the aubergines
Rub all the vegetables with oil and prick the aubergines with a fork in several places. An unpricked aubergine builds up steam inside and can burst in the oven, spraying flesh across the whole cavity.
Ingredients: 2 pcs aubergines · 4 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 3 pcs tomatoes · 3 tbsp olive oil
Roast whole until the skin blackens
Roast 60 minutes at 220°C, turning once, until the skins blacken and collapse and the vegetables are completely soft. Take the peppers and tomatoes out earlier, as soon as their skins wrinkle and blacken in places (peppers about 40 minutes, tomatoes about 25). Black skin is not a mistake — it gives escalivada its faint smokiness and protects the flesh from drying.
Ingredients: 2 pcs aubergines · 4 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 3 pcs tomatoes · 3 tbsp olive oil
The skin should blacken and collapse — this is not burning.Steam them covered
Transfer the hot vegetables to a bowl and cover tightly with foil for 20 minutes. The steam separates skin from flesh — without this step peeling is much harder and the skin comes away in shreds.
Ingredients: 2 pcs aubergines · 4 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 3 pcs tomatoes · 3 tbsp olive oil
Tightly covered — steam separates skin from flesh.Peel by hand, do not rinse
Pull the skin off with your fingers, lifting it in whole sheets, and remove the pepper seeds. Do not rinse the vegetables — water would wash away the roasted flavour that all this roasting was for. Leave the small black flecks.
Ingredients: 2 pcs aubergines · 4 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 3 pcs tomatoes · 3 tbsp olive oil
By hand, in whole sheets — never under running water.Tear the flesh into long strips
Pull the flesh apart with your fingers along the grain, into finger-wide strips. Torn strips catch the oil and lie naturally; knife-cut pieces look like diced roasted vegetables, which is a different dish entirely.
Ingredients: 2 pcs aubergines · 4 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 3 pcs tomatoes · 3 tbsp olive oil
Lay them in parallel and dress
Arrange the strips in parallel on a flat plate, grouped by vegetable, and dress with the oil, vinegar, sliced garlic and salt. The grouping is not a whim — each vegetable has its own flavour, and everyone can help themselves to what they like.
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 tbsp red wine vinegar · 1 tsp sea salt · 3 tbsp parsley
Leave half an hour
Leave 30 minutes at room temperature so the vegetables take up the garlic and oil. Scatter with parsley and serve with toasted bread and, if you like, anchovies. Escalivada is best lukewarm or at room temperature, not hot.
Ingredients: 6 pcs bread · 40 g anchovy fillets
Before you start
A grill instead of an oven
Originally the vegetables were roasted in embers, and a charcoal grill comes closest — 25 minutes over coals gives clearer smoke than an hour in an oven. A gas burner works too, turning the vegetables directly over the flame.
Keep the vegetable juices
A dark, sweet liquid collects in the bowl after steaming. Stir it into the dressing rather than pouring it away — it is concentrated roasted vegetable flavour that gives the dish depth.
Four days in the fridge
Escalivada keeps four days in the fridge under a layer of oil and is better on the second. Take it out half an hour before serving. It also tops coca de recapte, the Catalan flatbread, and alongside grilled meat and fish — worth making a double batch.
