Catalan Coca with Peppers, Aubergine and Spring Onions

La storia di questo piatto

In Catalonia, the coca is a thin, open-faced flatbread, and recapte is its summer garden: peppers, aubergines and spring onions laid out in generous ribbons. This is a home kitchen's rendition, humble and honest, where roasted vegetables and golden olive oil are the whole story.

Ingredienti

• 500 g Type 00 soft wheat flour
• 300 ml Lukewarm water
• 8 g Fresh baker's yeast
• 10 g Fine sea salt (for the dough)
• 4 g Fine sea salt (for the vegetables)
• 130 ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 400 g Red and yellow peppers
• 200 g Fresh spring onions
• 250 g Aubergines
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 2 g Ground black pepper
• 8 g Fresh thyme

Preparazione

1. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water (not hot, so as not to kill the yeast) and let it rest for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, mix the flour with 10 g of salt, pour in the water with the yeast and knead for 5 minutes, until the dough is compact and starts to become elastic.
2. Add 30 ml of oil gradually, a little at a time, kneading until fully absorbed: it takes another 4-5 minutes, for a total of 8-10 minutes of kneading. The dough should be smooth and soft. Place it in a clean bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 60 minutes. Halfway through the rise (after 30 minutes), give it a fold: fold the edges towards the centre.
3. While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 220°C. Cut the peppers into strips 3 cm wide and the aubergines into sticks about 2 cm thick. Arrange the peppers and aubergines on a baking tray, season with 50 ml of oil, 4 g of salt, the pepper and the thyme. Add the whole garlic cloves, unpeeled, keeping them well covered by the vegetables so they don't burn. Bake and after 15 minutes stir and add the whole spring onions, seasoned with 10 ml of oil. Continue for another 15-20 minutes, until the edges are slightly darkened and the vegetables are soft and caramelised. Remove the garlic cloves (squeeze the pulp over the vegetables, if you like) and let the vegetables cool slightly. The cooking oil left in the tray, which can turn bitter at 220°C, should not be reused: discard it or set it aside for other uses.
4. Lower the oven to 200°C. Grease a second 40x30 cm baking tray with 10 ml of oil. Transfer the risen dough without fully deflating it and stretch it with wet hands to about 1 cm thickness, without tearing the edges. Brush the surface with 20 ml of fresh extra virgin olive oil, without garlic.
5. Spread the roasted vegetables over the coca, leaving some bare dough visible. Taste the vegetables and adjust with salt and pepper if needed. Bake on the lowest shelf at 200°C until the base is golden and crisp and the edges are well browned, about 25 minutes.
6. Take out of the oven and drizzle with 10 ml of raw extra virgin olive oil. Scatter with a few fresh thyme leaves. Let it settle for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature. Oil distribution: 30 ml dough, 60 ml vegetables, 10 ml tray, 20 ml brushing, 10 ml final (total 130 ml, of which about 20 ml remains as cooking residue).