Escalivada – Smoky Aubergine and Pepper Tapas

Escalivada

This is a fantastic Catalonian dish, which is a great starter, part of tapas or a light snack for lunch. The vegetables are char-grilled, which creates a smoky flavour.

Serve on toasted French bread with a few white anchovy fillets or sun-blushed tomatoes.

Serves: 2, as a snack

2 red peppers

1 large aubergine

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

Char-grill the peppers and aubergine for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.  I usually do this over a raw flame on the hob but this can get messy so if you prefer, you can place them under the grill or even roast them in the oven at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes. By this time, the skin should be burnt and black.

Place each in separate plastic bags and tie a knot to keep out the air. Leave to steam for 15 minutes, then gently remove the skins, discard the stalks, the seeds of the peppers and wipe away any black bits.

Cut the peppers and aubergine into strips, stir together in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and season.

Serve warm or cold.

Coca de Trempo – Pepper and Onion Coca

Coca de Trempo

Coca comes from the Balearic Islands: it’s very similar to a slim-line pizza (no cheese!) but served at room temperature and equally delicious. A bread dough topped with traditional Spanish ingredients, makes Coca a great breakfast, lunch, tapas or snack. When I’m on holiday in Mallorca I like to buy a slice from the panaderia (bakery) for brunch to nibble on my long walk down to the beach. There are many different varieties of Coca (both sweet and savoury) and here is a recipe for a simple Coca de Trempo – pepper and onion coca. To mix it up I sometimes add artichoke hearts, olives or anchovies too.

Serves: 4, vegetarians and/or meat-eaters.

For the dough

250g strong plain flour

1 ½ tsp dried yeast

1tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

A pinch of sugar

200ml warm water

A knob of butter, melted

For the topping

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

4 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped

1 large Spanish onion, peeled and chopped

Handful fresh parsley, chopped

Olive oil

Whisk together half of the warm water with the yeast and sugar and leave to stand for about 10 minutes until a frothy head forms.

Mix the flour, salt, yeast mixture, oil and butter, and add a little at a time of the remaining water to make a soft, pliable dough. Knead for 10 minutes and place covered in a bowl in a warm place to rise for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, gas mark 6. 

Meanwhile, mix together the peppers, tomatoes, onions, parsley, a glug of olive oil and season with sea salt to taste.

Roll out the dough to about 5mm thick and curl up the edges to make a border. Place on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle the mixed vegetables over evenly. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Leave to cool and serve at room temperature.

Spanish Chickpea salad

Spanish Chickpea Salad

 

This is a spicy and refreshing Spanish chickpea salad that works as a great side dish or tapas.

Serves: 4

2 x400g tins chickpeas, drained or 150g dried chickpeas soaked overnight.

1 garlic clove, crushed into a paste using sea salt

1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped

½ red onion, finely chopped

½ medium sized cucumber

Handful cherry tomatoes, deseeded (seeds kept aside) and finely chopped

Handful fresh mint and parsley, chopped

1tbsp red wine vinegar

squeeze of lemon

olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

In a bowl mix the red onion and red wine vinegar and leave for a few minutes, this lightly softens the taste of the onion. Add the garlic, chili, lemon juice, dash of olive oil and stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients and season. Chill before serving.

Oven Baked Aubergine/Fish

Oven Baked Aubergine

I have recently rediscovered the wonderful versatility of the aubergine. With the Vegetarian option of this dish, as you slice open the purple skin of the aubergine, nestling on a bed of vegetables, the white flesh is a great contrast in colour, and the texture is like that of a fish and works as a great alternative. 

The savoury sauce adds great flavour to the fillet of aubergine/fish in this simple dish. The sultanas (if used) give a Mallorcan twist, providing a sweet richness.

Serves: 1 Vegetarian, 1 Pescatarian

 

1 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 green bell pepper, deseeded and diced

1 large tomato, skinned and chopped

1 glass dry white wine

Olive oil

Handful fresh herbs – thyme, rosemary, parsley

Sea salt and black pepper

Handful sultanas (optional)

V: 1 aubergine

P: Firm textured white fish fillet – cod, haddock, sea bream

P: Gut the fish and discard the innards, if the fish monger hasn’t already.

Fry the onion and green bell pepper in a little olive oil until soft but not coloured, adding the garlic towards the end of cooking.  Add the wine, tomato, herbs and season to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add water is necessary, to keep the sauce moist. Divide the sauce.

V: Place the aubergine in an oven proof dish and pour over half the sauce. Cook covered in the oven for 40 minutes. 

Wait about 20 minutes before adding the fish version (see below). 

P: Place the fish in an oven proof dish and pour over the rest of the sauce. Cook covered in the oven for 20 minutes. Check it’s cooked before serving as size of fish and temperature are variable.

Mallorcan rice

Mallorcan Rice

The Spanish have many rice dishes, paella being the most popular and renowned. This delicate Mallorcan rice dish is full of varied textures and works well both as a light lunch with salad or as a side dish. I served it with a juicy Mallorca oven-baked fish/aubergine dish.

Serves 2

½ litre vegetable stock                 

200 g long grain rice (100g per person)

2 potatoes, peeled, diced

4 cloves garlic, peeled, lightly crushed

2 tomatoes, halved

Handful, Chickpeas from a tin (if using dried, soak over-night before cooking)

Sea salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

Fry garlic and potatoes in a little olive oil, until slightly soft. Add the halved tomatoes, chickpeas and rice and continue frying for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour over the boiling stock, stir together and transfer to an oven dish. Bake covered for approx 18 minutes.

Mallorcan Tumbet

France has Ratatouille, Bulgaria has Turlu Guvec and Mallorca has Tumbet.

Each dish is a slightly different variation of the other but each version is simply made, allowing the natural juices of the vegetables to mix together.

Local Vegetables

Tumbet

Tumbet

You will need to put a bit of time aside for the Mallorca Tumbet as it involves frying all the ingredients separately before baking in the oven. To pass the time, it's always good to have a companion. I was joined by Señor Oveja (Mr Sheep) who popped his head through the window to sample the tantalizing dish!

Señor Oveja

I find Mallorcan cookery can sometimes be quite oily so I try to use as little oil as I can. If you have one, use a spray to lightly spray the pan with olive oil before frying or pour in as little as possible and spread evenly.

Tumbet is the perfect accompaniment to a lovely lamb chop or a simple fried egg.

I opted for the vegetarian dish this evening as the eggs in Mallorca are extremely fresh and flavoursome.

Serves: 1 vegetarian, 1 meat-eater

2 large potatoes (preferably mallorca) peeled, sliced

1 green bell pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced

1 aubergine, sliced – salted, drained on kitchen paper

I courgette, sliced

Sauce

6 tomatoes, chopped

4 garlic cloves, chopped

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1tsp cayenne pepper

Handful fresh herbs or 1 tbsp mix of dried herbs – parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary

For the sauce, cook all ingredients in a little olive oil for 30 minutes. Season to taste and add a little water to keep the sauce moist throughout.

Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.

Meanwhile, fry all the Tumbet ingredients separately in a very small amount of olive oil for approx 6 minutes each, turning halfway.

Layer a dish with each of the Tumbet ingredients.

Push tomato sauce through a colander, discarding skins and pour over layered vegetables. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Tumbet is a great dish on its own but sometimes I serve it with:

V: a fried egg

M: a lamb chop 

Mallorcan Tumbet with Fried Egg