Grilled Veggies with Tomato Sauce
I love the smell in the kitchen when I roast vegetables. The air is layered with the sunny summer aromas; the basil explodes like fireworks with its freshness.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ lbs small red peppers
10 cipollini onions, trimmed and peeled
2 green zucchini,
10 baby yellow squash
1 Italian eggplant
5 plum tomatoes
Put the cipollini onions to boiling water. Remove them after 30 sec. Place them in a plate. Once the onions are cool enough to handle easily remove outside peel.
Trim top of eggplant and cut lengthwise into 1/2” slices.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Put all vegetables in a large plastic zip bag, add already mixed olive oil with salt and black paper and turn to coat well. Marinate for 15min at room temperature.
Line a piece of baking paper on the oven rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the vegetables flat, leaving 1” distance between them and then bake them for 20 min at 350F.
When done, transfer the peppers and tomatoes to a pot, leaving the lid on until they are cool enough to peel the skin off.
Cut the eggplant slices to 1” thick stalks.
Mash the baked tomatoes in a glass bowl until smooth. Don’t use a food processor – it will change the texture of the spread and change the color to a paler red.
Transfer the tomato spread into a glass serving bowl to enjoy the fresh red color of the roasted tomatoes.
Arrange the veggies on a platter and just before serving, pour some aged balsamic vinegar and diced basil & parsley.
Serve with the tomato spread on a side.
