The sad truth about summer 2020 is that you may not be ushering it in by grilling giant trays of food for a horde of your family and friends.
But if you have a grill, you can still use it to make a feast this Memorial Day — though possibly on a somewhat smaller scale.
One way to go is a platter of colorful, charred, oily-in-a-good way vegetables.
Part of its beauty is that, like so many of the best things these days, a grilled vegetable platter is extremely adaptable. It will work with whatever sturdy produce you’re able to get. Pretty much anything other than leafy greens can find a place over the fire.
Buy as many different vegetables as you can. The more variety, the more striking the platter will look, and the more interesting to eat. But even an eggplant and a couple of zucchinis will do just fine.
To elevate those vegetables above the quotidian, you’ll need a special sauce, and here I offer a tangy, spicy number speckled with raisins.
It’s inspired by an Italian agrodolce, a traditional sweet-and-sour sauce made from vinegar and sugar or honey. I like to spike mine with colatura, the Italian analogue of Asian fish sauce, made from anchovies and salt fermented into a pungent, amber liquid. Either one will add a rich, saline, umami flavor, and help mellow the bite of the vinegar. Or you can just leave it out and add a little more salt, or a chopped anchovy or two.
If you plan to serve these veggies as a side dish, you can stop right here. But adding some soft, fresh cheese turns them into a main course with a little crusty bread to round it all out.
With its gloriously creamy center, burrata is always my first choice for this kind of recipe. But all sorts of mild cheeses can work — a supple ball of mozzarella, a dollop of fresh ricotta or some goat cheese — anything that can add richness without competing with the sharpness of the sauce.
Then, if you’ve got a baguette or maybe a loaf of homemade sourdough around, cut it up and grill the slices after the vegetables are done. You can pile vegetables and cheese on top, turning them into crostini. Or use the warm toast instead of a fork, scooping up melty cheese and caramelized vegetables and eating them directly from the platter. It’s one small upside about not sharing it with a crowd.