Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [255]
8. When done, transfer the vegetables to a warm platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula to drain them of oil. Scrape loose any bits stuck to the sides or bottom of the baking dish and add them to the platter, for they are choice morsels. Serve at once.
Charcoal-Grilled Vegetables
PLEASE READ this recipe through before you begin to cook. You will find that at any one time you may be handling several vegetables at different stages of their cooking. It is not at all a daunting procedure, it can be, in fact, rather a lot of fun to do, but it will all go much more smoothly if you first get a sense of its rhythm.
For 4 to 6 servings
2 fresh, glossy, medium zucchini
1 large flat Spanish onion
Salt
2 sweet yellow or red bell peppers
2 fresh, ripe, firm, large round tomatoes
1 medium eggplant
2 heads Belgian endive
Extra virgin olive oil
Crushed black peppercorns
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
⅛ teaspoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted
A charcoal-fired grill or gas-fired lava rocks
A pair of tongs
1. Soak the zucchini in cold water for 20 minutes, then wash them in several changes of water, rubbing their skins clean. Slice off both ends and cut the zucchini lengthwise into slices less than ½ inch thick.
2. Cut the onion in half at its middle, and score the cut sides in a cross-hatch pattern, stopping well short of the skin. Do not remove the flaky outer skin or cut off the onion’s point or root. Sprinkle the cut sides with salt.
3. Wash the peppers in cold water, keeping them whole.
4. Wash the tomatoes in cold water and divide them in two at their middle.
5. Wash the eggplant in cold water. Trim away its green top. Cut the eggplant lengthwise in two, and make shallow cross-hatched cuts on both cut sides, staying well short of the skin. Rub salt liberally into the cuts.
6. Split the endive heads lengthwise in two. Make 2 or 3 deep cuts at their base.
7. Light the charcoal or turn the gas-fired grill on to very hot.
8. When the coals have begun to form white ash, or the lava rocks are very hot, put the onion, cut side down, on the grill. Place the peppers alongside. Check the peppers after a few minutes; when the skin facing the fire is charred and the peppers begin to shrink, turn them with the tongs, bringing them closer together to make room for other vegetables as described below. Continue turning the peppers each time the skin facing the fire becomes charred, eventually standing them on end. When they are charred all over, put them into a plastic bag, twisting it tightly closed.
9. While cooking the peppers, check the onion. When the side facing the fire becomes charred, turn it over with a spatula, being careful not to separate any of the rings. Coat the charred side with olive oil, working it in between the cuts, and sprinkle with salt. Let the onion cook another 15 or 20 minutes, when it should feel tender, but firm when prodded with a fork. Remove its charred, outer skin, put the onion on the serving platter that will hold all the vegetables, cut each half into 4 parts, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with cracked black pepper.
10. When you first turn the peppers and draw them closer together, use the space you made available on the grill for the tomatoes, placing them cut side facing down. Check them after a few minutes, and if they are already slightly charred, turn them over. Season each half with olive oil, salt, and some of the parsley, garlic, and bread crumbs. You needn’t do anything else about the tomatoes until they have shrunk to nearly