Huevos Revueltos con Rovellons

At our autumn guided Boqueria market visits we stop at the famous Llorenç Pelras stall to buy rovellons.  Here goes a recipe for a very simple and tasteful Spanish dish for breakfast or a starter. The proportion below  serves two for breakfast, and the side-by-side presentation features the mushrooms as a separate flavor. The recipe can also be assembled as scrambled eggs or an omelet. With more cream or half-and-half and doubling the recipe, it easily converts to a quiche filling or a frittata.

2 cups Rovellons (Lactarius rubrilacteus), cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
4 T. olive oil
2 T. flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 T. good dry sherry
4 eggs
2 T. cream
salt and pepper to taste

Beat egg, cream, and salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat 2 T. of olive oil in skillet and saute mushrooms, onions, and garlic over medium-low heat until mushrooms are cooked and liquid has evaporated. Add sherry, salt and pepper to taste, and continue cooking and stirring until liquid has condensed into a sauce. Remove mushroom mixture and keep warm. Clean and reheat skillet. Add and heat remaining oil, then pour beaten eggs into skillet. Stir with wooden spoon periodically until the eggs are cooked soft. Place the scrambled eggs on one side of serving platter and place the mushroom mixture on the other side. Sprinkle parsley over all and serve.

Since the name of this dish comes from the Catalan word escalivar, meaning “to roast over ashes or embers,” it is traditional to cook this over a real flame. If you can’t though, you can bake these in the oven with good results as well. On Gourmand Breaks Spanish cooking classes we frequently prepare this dish as a first course or as an accompaniment to a main course.

Ingredients

• 4 small eggplants
• 4 spring onions or large scallions
• 4 red bell peppers
• 3 tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil or brushing, plus 1/3 cup
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• Salt and peper to taste

Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat the oven to 500ºF. Brush the eggplants, onions, bell peppers and tomatoes with olive oil. If using a grill, place the vegetables directly over the fire and grill, turning frequently, for 15 to 30 minutes, or until the skins blacken and the vegetables are tender. The variation in timing depends on the heat of the fire, and some vegetables, such as the tomatoes, may be ready before the others. If using an oven, arrange the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet or in a roasting pan and roast, turning every 10 minutes, for 30 minutes, or until the skins blacken and the vegetables are tender. Remove the vegetables from the grill or oven, wrap in foil and let cool for about 1 hour.

Unwrap the vegetables. Peel the eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes, and peel away the outer layer of the onions. Split the bell peppers in half, discard the seeds and stems, and cut lengthwise into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide. Transfer to a bowl. Trim the stems from the eggplants and core the tomatoes, and then cut them into strips of the same size as the pepper strips and add to the bowl. Trim the onions, cut into rings, and add to the bowl along with the garlic.

Add the 1/3 cup olive oil, season with salt, and toss to mix well. Serve at room temperature.