My favorite recipes for lots of olive oil is...
Escalivada!
This week we talked about Spanish Olive Oil and how it is, if I am being completely honest, the best in the world. There are many ways to show off a great extra virgin olive oil from Spain: you can drizzle it over grilled fish, turn it into an alioli, or just pour it in a shallow bowl with garlic and herbs and use it as a simple dip for bread or raw vegetables. If you want to get more complicated, try the Spanish recipe for Tumbet Mallorquin (you can find it in my cookbook Made in Spain on page 89!), a layered vegetable dish that is completely covered in olive oil and roasted in the oven.
At Zaytinya, I use so much olive oil because of the many amazing Mediterranean recipes from Greece and Turkey that depend on it. Zaytinya takes its name from the Turkish word zeytinyağlı, a category of vegetable dishes cooked in olive oil. So you get the picture that when it comes to olive oil, I am a huge fan!
This recipe I am choosing to share with you today is for a very classic Catalan dish called Escalivada. Escalivar comes from the Catalan meaning "to cook in ashes." This preparation is perfect for this time of year when we are just seeing the last of the summer vegetables and we want to preserve them to serve all year round. Through preserving, you are able to bring to the present, maybe a chilly winter night – the essence of the past, the warm and bright light of the summer – all in a single bite.
You can have this dish right away as a side dish with grilled fish or meat, or to keep it longer, put the vegetables in a clean jar covered with some Spanish extra-virgin olive oil!
How do you like to use olive oil?
Escalivada
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 medium eggplants