Peperoni Alla Piemontese

Baked Roasted Capsicums 

Intro 

This a second antipasto dish using capsicums and anchovies ... perfect with crusty bread and wine and quite different to Peperoni con Alici a Capperi. 

Recipe 

Cut capsicums of all colours (red, yellow, orange or green) in quarters lengthwise. Remove seeds. Arrange into a flat baking dish and into each piece place:

• 2 or 3 thin slices of garlic
• 2 small sections of sliced tomato
• 1/2 a fillet of anchovy,
• 2 dessertspoons of olive oil
• a sprinkling of sea salt

Cook in a moderate oven for 20-30 mins max - don't overcook. They should still be al dente. Serve cold. 

Roasted capsicums with anchovies

Intro

One of my favourite ways of socialising is sitting around a picnic table on the back lawn with sea as a backdrop, a glass of wine, a bunch of old friends and yummy things to eat. A couple of gorgeous cheeses, salty nuts, a firm pear, smoked salmon or chicken, garlicky olives and roasted red peppers all seem to me to be the food of the Gods. Horowhenua is a strong horticultural area and we are blessed to be able to buy gorgeous, picked daily, vegetables direct from the grower ... including stunning red peppers at the right time of year. My kids eat them like apples! I make a couple of antipasto dishes including Peperoni Alla Piemontese. This recipe consists of chargrilled red peppers (capsicums) rolled up with anchovies and capers - gorgeous combination. 

Recipe

• 6 large glossy red peppers (bell peppers or capsicums)
• garlic
• olive oil
• anchovies
• capers
• 1 lemon

Grill the red peppers until the skins are blackened (or roast over a naked gas flame ie a BBQ). Stick them in a closed paper bag and leave for 15 minutes to steam. The blackened skin will peel off quite easily with a vegetable knife. Marinate for 15 minutes in olive oil, a splash of lemon, a crushed clove of garlic. 

Cut each pepper into 6 or 8 length-wise strips (depending on the size of the peppers). Place a chopped anchovy fillet and a few capers on each slice then roll up into a small sausage and arrange into a shallow dish. Pour the marinade over and garnish with a tiny sprinkling of parsley, or grated lemon rind, a grinding of black pepper or a few fresh thyme leaves. Serve with bread to sop up the lovely oil.

Coca - Catalan Pizza

Flatbread

• 225g strong flour plus extra for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried yeast
• 150ml tepid water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Place salt and flour in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the water and add oil to the water. Tip the liquid into the flour and mix in with fingers to form a ball of dough. Tip dough onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Smear a little oil in a bowl and roll the dough ball around in the oil, cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for an hour or 2 until doubled in size. Punch down then divide in half and roll each out very thinly.

Place on a hot pizza stone or oven tray, add topping (below) and bake for 10 minutes at the highest temperature your oven can go until the base is crispy. Remove from heat, drizzle the saved olive oil over the top and serve immediately.

Topping

• 1 medium aubergine or eggplant chopped into 1cm dice,
• 1 zucchini - thinly sliced,
• 2 medium onions - thinly sliced
• 2 capsicums or red bell peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds removed and thinly sliced,
• 1 heaped tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
• 150ml olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped,
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt.

Sprinkle the aubergine with salt and set aside. Gently saute the onions and a pinch of salt in the olive oil in a heavy based frying pan for about 15 minutes until soft. Add the capsicums and garlic and continue to saute for another 10 minutes until the capsicums are soft and sweet and the onions a golden colour. 

Drain the aubergine and pat dry then add with the zuchinni and rosemary to the onions.Cook for a further 10-15 minutes stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat, move the filling to one side of the pan and leave to rest on a slight angle to drain excess oil away from the filling. Don't throw away the oil!