roasted peppers

  And why not.  The Mediterranean diet is rich in lean proteins (chicken, fish and legumes), fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, olive oil, and a limited consumption of dairy and red meats.  Peppers are one of the healthy foods from the Mediterranean diet.  Enjoy fresh or roasted they are rich in vitamins A and C, fiber, folate, beta carotene and vitamin K.

Roasting peppers brings out their natural sugars making them taste sweeter.  When you combine the ingredients listed below, it’s a marriage made in heaven…all parts are played in harmony.  Mop up the juices with chunks of fresh bread and enjoy the flavours then fold the peppers over and take a bite or two.  Mr. S was never a fan of capers or anchovies but he loves them now!  This is a super easy side dish/appetizer to make and a unique finger food, too.  If you have any leftovers, chop up and add to a salad or pasta.

Serves 8 as a side

4 bell peppers, cut in half (seeds and membrane removed)
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
capers, rinsed
4 anchovy fillets (packed in oil), chopped
8 basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
extra-virgin olive oil
fresh bread, torn apart or sliced

Preheat oven to 300f. Place peppers on a wire rack set over a roasting tray. There’s no particular order to add the toppings but I like to place the basil leaves in first then garlic, one or two tomato halves, 3 to 4 capers, sprinkling of anchovy, sun-dried tomatoes and a good splash of olive oil. Roast in oven for one hour. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: I’ve made this a few times and each time I change the quantities of the ingredients. The first time I used whole anchovy fillets (packed in oil) but found chopping them up was better.  Fill the cavity of the pepper according to size; you may need to add more basil if the leaves are small or more garlic etc.  These were fantastic warm and even better cool.  Can’t wait an hour?  No problem, just crank up the oven to 450f and roast 30 minutes or until the pepper is tender and skin is blistered in spots.  Enjoy!

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