Calçots (Scallions with Romesco sauce)
Ingredients
- 2 bunches calçots or 2 bunches green onions (or 4 bunches large scallions) both white and green parts
- Coarse salt
- Pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Romesco sauce
Preparation: Don’t trim the tips of the calçots. Remove any dried peelings, leaving as much of the vegetable intact as you can. Preheat your grill to high.
Drizzle your calçots with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the calçots on the hot grill and let cook for about 8 to 12 minutes. Watch them carefully so they do not burn but allow the first layer to get charred. Occasionally turn them carefully and continue to season as they grill.
Remove the calçots and wrap them in paper towels. Let them stand and cool for about 15 minutes.
Presentation: Serve warm with Romesco sauce or olive oil, salt and pepper.
Cooking tip: When seasoning calçots, some people use cayenne pepper as well as salt and pepper. You can wrap your calçots in newspaper instead of paper towels for that extra authentic Spanish feeling.
About this dish: Calçots are a variety of scallion (Blanca Grande Tardana) native to Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. Calçots are milder than onions and look similar to small leeks. The most traditional way of eating calçots is in a calçotada, a popular event held between the end of winter and March or April, where calçots are consumed massively. Calçots are traditionally roasted over fire in an outdoor oven but they can also be cooked in a grill, a conventional oven or on top of the stove.
Curiosity: Calçots are traditionally served on top of upturned roof tiles, which are used as serving trays.
