Coca is perhaps the best-known of all Catalan dishes and is also popular around the Mediterranean region in general. In fact, savoury coca is often considered the mother of the Italian pizza and focaccia. Coca was invented when people started to use dough that had not risen instead of throwing it away. Cooks, servants and housewives would cook the flat dough, either sweetening it to serve as a dessert, or adding various condiments and vegetables which made it into a complete dish.

The vegetables in this typical Mediterranean food provide us with a variety of nutrients. In the case of this particular recipe, we have a mixture of aubergine, tomato, peppers and onion. The dish is also a good source of carbohydrates (for energy) from the bread base, and has the advantage of being a low-fat food.

Preparation:

Pour the flour into a bowl and make a hole in the middle of a mound of it (in the shape of a volcano). Add the salt into the middle, along with the yeast, dissolved in a little warm water, and the oil. Stir well and add the 100ml of water little by little.

Kneed the dough and add more flour if necessary until it does not stick.

Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave the dough in a warm place to rise until it doubles in size (approximately 1 hour).

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°C) and rub all the vegetables (whole) with a little Betis olive oil and salt, then roast them together in an oven dish until they are lightly cooked.

When the dough is ready, flatten it out with a rolling pin over a flat surface, taking care to sprinkle flour over the surface first. When the dough is spread out thinly, place it on a baking tray (lightly greased with Betis olive oil).

Having removed the vegetables, place the dough in the oven at 180°C (355°C) and bake it for 10 minutes. Remove it when it is lightly baked.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the roasted vegetables and remove the seeds from the peppers and the aubergine. Mixed the chopped vegetables with the juices they have let out during the roasting.

Beat the egg together with the milk, a little salt and the white pepper.

Spread the vegetables over the bread and then brush them with the egg and milk mixture. Place the tray back in the oven and cook for around 30 minutes at 200°C (392°F).

The coca is now ready to serve but if you want to add extra flavour, you can always add a couple of tinned anchovies or sardines.

Note: Serves 4. Preparation time: 90 minutes. Cooking time: 45 minutes.