A Roasted Vegetable Side Dish for Summer's End
Inspiration from the Tavola Calda + Why Puglia in August Wasn't Our Best Idea
Roasting is a great all-year-round low-fuss cooking method that heightens and intensifies the flavor profile of your favorite vegetables and it’s one that I overly rely on in extreme temperatures. Roasting early in the morning and late at night keeps homes cool in unbearable heat and then becomes that bit of warmth that we welcome at the same hours when the cooler temperatures start to creep in. The array of colors represented in a tray of roasted vegetables is pleasing to the eye, and they are economical as well as highly nutritious. Their caramelization and charred sweetness always feels slightly indulgent.
When I am asked for Irish and Italian travel advice, I often encourage people to avoid July and August. In Ireland, it’s for the potential of grey skies and excessive rain, and in Italy, it’s for excessive and even dangerous heat and sun. The common denominator between the two countries is the crowds. And why are there crowds? Well, that’s mostly because for most users, travel is motivated or you might even say dictated by work and school holidays, and for the most part, this is also what is marketed by the travel industry. Images of sandy beaches, cocktails, pools, luxurious accommodations, outdoor activities, historical monuments, great food, and green landscapes offer the promise of rest, relaxation, culture, and the cure of the seaside experience.
We tend to assume that the summer season is the best that any country has to offer, but in a new vision for sustainable travel our paradigms around non-experiential and experiential travel experiences are shifting with the same weather patterns that have dictated the way in which we live since the beginning of time.
This past summer, we changed our holiday destination on a whim. Instead of heading to Calabria, a very familiar location with more of a return tourism demand, we decided to head for Puglia, a region that we have visited as a couple and family a little more than a handful of times. Riccardo has always talked about the wild uncontaminated beauty experienced during his visits with the family of his high school sweetheart back in the 80s when these areas of Salento were yet to be discovered by the outside world. Having previously visited in late June and early September, we had the idea to experience places like Porto Selvaggio, but this time around, we found ourselves unprepared, and it was a learning experience.
Summertime by the sea and/or in the mountains is deeply ingrained in Italian culture as a holistic cure-all and non-negotiable experienced by a large percentage of the population in order to face the “colder” months ahead. I imagine that there would be some interesting observations and explanations if one were to also look at this summer shift from an anthropological or sociological point of view. When my mother-in-law was a child in the 1940s, the government would organize trips to the seaside for the rural and disadvantaged. From public beaches to private sushi-laden beach clubs that exist side by side, today’s seaside locations seem to cater to all economic levels but at the same time also reflect the class divide of the summer shores which may have not been as apparent in the last century.
Like many others, our non-negotiable work holidays are now limited to the first weeks of August. These are, in my opinion, some of the worst weeks to travel to the sea in Italy. One might argue that these are the best weeks to experience Italy for all of the vibes that they bring, but with rising temperatures, our travel habits are something that we need to rethink and reconsider as responsible citizens of this planet. Sarah May Grunwald wrote an excellent piece this past summer that gives us a closer look at the reasons.
Puglia has been one of the “hottest” places for Italians to holiday in recent years, and therefore we didn’t expect to find the seaside apartment that we booked in Salento. An article featured in Corriere della sera which we came across in the same week reported on the rising costs of Puglian holidays and hinted at the reason for “our luck”, but we took our chances regardless. Subsequent articles published in August detailed Puglia’s attempt to ban the beach picnics that are more affordable to the average Giuseppe in today’s economic climate.
When we first arrived in Salento, local friends who were hightailing it to Greece told me that it was going to be hard to find a good meal because of the crowds. My heart sank a little, but I didn’t expect that comment to foreshadow the enogastronomic experience of our holiday.
We often book apartments or houses when we travel with a “let’s see what we find” attitude so that full or half-board meals in resorts and hotels don’t dictate our beach time and penchant to explore. This is also because The Love Boat cruise vibe that we have found in family resorts is not really our thing.
We also like to shop for local ingredients and experiment with the local cuisine, but after a few frustrating nights of cooking on a very tight two-ringed induction burner barely big enough to fit two pans, we sought out the equally frustrating restaurant experience. It was a story of inaccessible locations, lack of parking, and available bookings at hours that would not suit two exhausted and slightly sunburnt kids. The lack of gluten-free friendly fast-food joints that we resorted to with the help of hazard lights had me HANGRY cooking for one very late at night once we got home. I didn’t think to plan for gluten-free eating challenges as this has never been an issue here in Italy.
We did lunch at the local beach clubs, but like so many of our compatriots, we also resorted to discreet beach picnics, and for this, our local tavola calda was a lifesaver. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, a tavola calda
“Literally translated as hot table, is a no frills inexpensive business serving prepared food made the same day and sold from behind a counter. A tavola calda offers a larger selection of dishes - from pasta and rice to meat and vegetables - and it's a fast and easy meal option when you're on the go.” -Arianna DiCicco, America Domani
I did have to take my chance with gluten contamination otherwise I would have had to prepare my own lunch in a desired moment of rest, but it ended up being ok.
One of the contorni or side dishes that I ordered more than once to be spooned into takeaway aluminum tins was the inspiration for this recipe. Roasted summer vegetables - peppers, aubergine, courgette, and onion, mixed with capers and olives. A flexible vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free combination that compliments sturdy fish as well as red and white meat. If this isn’t your thing then this recipe is just as wonderful with a plate of eggs, beans, cheese, and cooked grains or as a stand-alone friend to a table full of summer salads. Spoon the concentrated juices over toasted bread and pile the vegetables on top for crostoni. This recipe can be eaten warm or cold, travels well, and holds in the fridge for a few days.
On this trip, I was excited to finally identify the name of the little black olives that I had cooked with for the handful of years that we lived in Calabria. Celline are also the olives that I used in this recipe, but really any quality olive will do.
Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of beauty and fortune to be had on this trip. Puglia is a marvelous and innovative location and it is a privilege to be able to visit, but we will absolutely be reconsidering how we travel in the future and will be keeping more sustainable options in mind.
There is a world of beauty, accessibility, connection, and inspiration to be found in the “alternative” or “off-season” not to mention the reciprocal economic and ecological advantages that can be provided to a territory if we dare to rethink how, where, when and why we travel.
End of Summer Roasted Vegetables
Verdure al forno
GF. DF. Gr.F. VE.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 small/medium aubergine
1 medium courgette
1 medium purple onion *
2 medium peppers
A handful of quality olives
1 tablespoon of roughly chopped capers
Extra virgin olive oil
Summer herbs*
Sea Salt
Optional: 2 cloves of smashed garlic, jackets on
Method:
Heat your oven to 200°C
Add the peppers to a baking tray or dish and roast for about 35-45 minutes turning once or twice.
Prepare the aubergine and courgette by cutting the vegetables into four quarters the long way shaving off any excess seeds with a knife. Continue to cut them into large match sticks and arrange them on a baking tray.
Cut the onion into large quarters and add to the baking tray together with the smashed garlic gloves.
Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil then add your preferred herbs and salt. Toss to coat.
Remove the peppers from the oven when they collapse and the skins are well-browned. Add them to a bowl together with the pan juices and cover.
Add the tray of vegetables to the hot oven and roast for 20-30 minutes. Gently shake the pan halfway through the cooking time. Remove the cloves of garlic when cooked.
Slice open your peppers on a clean chopping board to remove their seeds and gently peel off the loose charred skins. Cut into thin strips and return to their juices.
Add the peppers to the pan of cooked vegetables together with the capers, olives, and a few generous tablespoons of the juice from the pepper bowl.
Test for seasoning and add any extra herbs or garlic if desired. Gently toss and transfer to your serving dish. Serve warm or cold.
Notes:
Use fresh marjoram or oregano while baking and add fresh basil or chopped parsley at the end.
Garlic is optional here. Roasted on the tray and then removed the flavor stays in the background. Garlic lovers can add some paste from the roasted garlic at the end or add a small finely chopped raw clove. I find less is more.
A sweeter purple onion is better here but a standard one works too.
As the summer turns into autumn, try substituting courgette with seasonal pumpkin or butternut squash.