Roasted capsicum and tomato salad with cumin and sherry vinegar (asadillo)

Serve this sexy Spanish salad warm, dressed with the lovely roasting juices. This recipe would work well as part of a shared spread, or as a vegetarian main along with some crusty bread.

• serves

  8

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

10 red capsicums

3 large brown onions, unpeeled

3 garlic bulbs

sea salt flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

10 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded, cut into wedges

1 handful flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped

100 ml (3½ fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

150 ml (5 fl oz) sherry vinegar

1 tbsp freshly ground cumin

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).

Put the capsicums, onions and garlic in a large roasting tin, sprinkle with the sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Roast the vegetables for 40 minutes. The capsicums are ready when they are soft and a little browned. Remove the capsicum and garlic, put in a bowl and pour over the cooking juices. Return the onion to the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until very soft.

 

When the capsicum are just cool enough to handle, remove and reserve the skins and seeds. Reserve the cooking juices. Break up the capsicum flesh into broad strips and put in a separate bowl. Cut off the tops of the garlic bulbs and squeeze out the now paste-like interior. Add the tomato and mix through, letting the residual warmth from the capsicums soften the tomatoes just a little.

When the onions are ready, remove them from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove and discard the skin. Cut the onions into rough wedges and mix through the capsicum and tomato mixture.

Measure out 100 ml (3½ fl oz) of the reserved cooking juices, strain, and then add to the salad with the parsley, extra virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, and cumin. Mix thoroughly.

Serve immediately or refrigerate. If refrigerating, allow the salad to reach room temperature before serving.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.