We had these for dinner the other night – roasted red peppers with warm slices of baguette on the side to dip into the oily, anchovy-infused juices. I know they sound quite simple but they are rather nice! The tomatoes become soft and juicy (even winter tomatoes), the peppers slippery and sweet, and the whole held together with the aforementioned juices.

Piedmont Roasted Peppers

Piedmont Roasted Peppers
adapted from a recipe by Delia Smith
serves 4 as a starter.

4 large red peppers
4 medium tomatoes
8 anchovy fillets in olive oil
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
basil leaves (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cut the peppers in half, from stem to base, cutting the stem in half as well. Scoop out the seeds and white pith, leaving the stem intact as that holds the pepper together as it cooks. Place the halves cut side up in a baking pan. Place the tomatoes in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over them. Take them out and peel off their skins. Cut each tomato into quarters and place two quarters in each red pepper half. Slice the garlic cloves finely and cut the anchovy fillets into pieces and divide them up between the pepper halves. Grind black pepper over top and then drizzle one teaspoonful of olive oil over each half.

Bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour, until the peppers are soft and on the verge of collapsing. Drizzle plenty of extra virgin olive oil and scatter with basil leaves if you have them. Serve with plenty of bread!

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