Peppers - perfect for a party platter or a dinner plate

So this is one of my staple and favourite things to make. It’s easy and they are fabulous! You can have them ready in the fridge for an impromptu dinner party or just use a few to jazz up your

dinner plate. They're a regular feature on my kitchen table.

I love the flavour and vibrant colours of roasted peppers! … Marinated in a generous pouring of velvety virgin olive oil together with a few cloves of garlic, sprigs of thyme from the garden and then a dribble of gooey, thick, aged balsamic from Modena- making the perfect accompaniment to the soft peppers. These ingredients do a wonderful job of bringing out the best in each other!

The result is colourful, tasty and smooth textured. A safe bet for creating a dinner party “wow” with minimal effort.

• a perfect salad ingredient

• hold their own on a bruschetta but are equally delicious with a spread of soft goats cheese and sprinkled with a few rocket leaves

• a great ingredient for a “ready, steady, cook” moment. Say with pasta or you can add them to a plate with a green salad, a few falafel, humous and maybe even a bit of smoked mackerel- makes a healthy and well balanced, quickly prepared meal

• Blended with a little bit of Crème fraîche or Fromage frais, turns them in to a gorgeous and vibrant dip or topping

They’re not that fiddly to make, I prefer roasting them in the oven rather than charring them on an open gas flame.

METHOD:

Peppers, washed and placed on a lined baking sheet (with baking paper or aluminium foil).​

The oven can be set anywhere from 150C to 200C. Depending on what else I’m doing or making, or how much time I have, will often determine the temperature. The hotter- the more vigilant you need to be.

Let the skins turn colour, even charred in places in fine. I turn them over after about 20 mins if on a lower temperature. Once they are done- they need to “sweat it out”. I’ll either leave them in the oven while it’s still warm or I’ll pop them, wrapped in the baking paper, in my large le Creuset pot with the lid on. My pot is a permanent fixture on my stove-top, it looks good and comes in handy- one of the joys of a city-sized kitchen. You can put them in a brown paper bag if you have one.

When you are done with whatever else it is you’re doing and given them time to cool down, you literally just peel the skins off really easily. I rinse off the seeds and tear the peppers in to pieces.

Place them in a bowl or container you want to keep them in and dress them as I've mentioned above.

#food #peppers #colourfulfood #nutritiousanddelicious