Catalan-Style Ash-Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 large bell pepper
• 1 small onion, unpeeled
• 3 to 4 roma tomatoes, optional
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

Directions

1. Coat the eggplant, red pepper, onion, and tomatoes, if you’re using them, with half of the olive oil, using your hands to get the oil over the surfaces evenly. Add salt and pepper. Enclose each vegetable in its own foil packet.
2. To finish on the grill, start a fire with 1 chimney full of coals, then allow it to burn down until the coals are just smoldering; you can use the fire for cooking while it is hotter. When the coals are ready, set the foil-wrapped vegetables right on them and mound some coals over the packets. Cover the grill and cook until the vegetables are very soft, about 2 hours and up to overnight. Take the packets out of the coals, open them, and remove the skins from the eggplant, pepper, onion, and tomatoes. Remove the seeds from the pepper and eggplant as well. Chop the vegetable flesh into rough pieces, then mix it with the remaining olive oil and the parsley. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper. Serve with sherry vinegar drizzled over the top.
3. To finish in the oven, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange the foil packets on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the vegetables are very soft, about 2 hours. Open the packets and remove the skins from the eggplant, pepper, onion, and tomatoes. Remove the seeds from the pepper and eggplant as well. Chop the vegetable flesh into rough pieces, then mix it with the remaining olive oil and the parsley. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper. Serve with sherry vinegar drizzled over the top.