Grilled Romaine Lettuce with Charred Corn and Salsa Roja
Side
Ingredients
100ml buttermilk
4 romaine lettuces, cut in half lengthways
50ml vegetable oil, or other neutral oil
For the salsa roja
3 plum tomatoes (250g)
1 romano pepper, cut in half lengthways, stem, seeds and pith removed (150g)
1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters
5 red chillies, stems removed, seeds and pith scraped out and discarded if you prefer less heat (50g)
1 whole head garlic, cloves separated and unpeeled
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp light soft brown sugar
¼ tsp ground cumin
For the corn relish:
2 corn cobs
50g unsalted butter
1½ tsp urfa chilli
1 lime, zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, then juiced, to get 2 tsp
2 small spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Flaked sea salt, table salt and black pepper
Description
From Yotam Ottolenghi
Directions
First make the salsa roja. Put a lightly greased griddle pan on a high heat and ventilate the kitchen. Once the pan is smoking hot, lay in the tomatoes, pepper (cut side down), onion wedges, chillies and garlic cloves, and grill, turning as necessary, until nicely charred all over and softened – the garlic will take four to five minutes, the chillies about 10 and the tomatoes, onions and peppers 20-25 minutes. As each vegetable is charred and ready, transfer to a plate and set aside to cool.
Once the tomatoes, onions and peppers are out of the griddle pan, lay in the corn and char, turning as necessary, for about five minutes. Remove from the griddle and set aside to cool, and keep the pan on a low heat.
Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins and put the flesh in a blender with all the other charred veg except the corn. Add the vinegar, sugar, cumin, 50ml water and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt, and blitz to a smooth puree. Pour this into a medium bowl, then stir in the buttermilk.
Hold each corn cob vertically on a board and run a sharp knife down the sides to remove the kernels (discard the core, or save it for stock). Put the butter in a small saucepan on a medium heat and cook for five to eight minutes, until it’s melted, smells nutty and is nicely browned. Off the heat, stir in the urfa and the corn, then set aside to cool.
Turn the heat under the griddle pan back up high. Brush the cut side of the lettuce halves with half the oil, then lay four of them cut side down on the grill and char for four minutes. Brush the outside of the romaine halves with more oil, carefully turn over, char for another four minutes, then arrange them cut side up on a platter. Repeat with the remaining four romaine halves and oil.
Sprinkle the charred lettuce with a good pinch of flaked sea salt, then spoon over the salsa roja and buttermilk mix, pushing the sauce in between the leaves. Stir the lime zest, juice, spring onions and a quarter-teaspoon of flaked salt through the corn mix, spoon this all over the lettuce and serve warm or at room temperature.