Piedmont Roasted Peppers Food

PIEDMONTESE ROASTED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees C (355F).
• Halve the peppers lengthways, remove the core, seeds and white pith. Lay the peppers, skin side down, in a shallow baking dish that will comfortably hold them.
• Divide the pieces of cherry tomatoes amongst the peppers. Tuck 3 or 4 slices of garlic between the tomatoes. Tuck basil leaves and olives between the tomatoes.
• Cut, or tear the bocconcini into pieces with your hands, and scatter on top. Use some crumbled feta if you prefer.Add an anchovy, halved lengthways or chopped if you prefer. Grind some black pepper over the top.If you are using anchovies omit or be cautious adding the salt.
• Drizzle over the olive oil. Don't skimp, it is essential for the wonderful juices. Add some chilli/red pepper flakes if you wish.
• Bake in the oven approximately 35 minutes until they are slightly blackened around the edges but still holding their shape.
• Transfer the cooked peppers to a serving dish, with all the delicious juices poured over, and garnish with a few basil leaves.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

PIEDMONT ROASTED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Begin by cutting the peppers in half and removing the seeds but leaving the stalks intact (they're not edible but they do look attractive and they help the pepper halves to keep their shape). Lay the pepper halves in the lightly oiled roasting tray. Now put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them for 1 minute, then drain them and slip the skins off, using a cloth to protect your hands. Then cut the tomatoes into quarters and place three quarters in each pepper half. Watch How to Skin Tomatoes in our cookery School Video on this page. After that, snip one anchovy fillet per pepper half into rough pieces and add to the tomatoes. Peel the garlic cloves, slice them thinly and divide the slices equally among the tomatoes and anchovies. Now spoon 1 dessertspoon of olive oil into each pepper, season with freshly milled pepper (but no salt because of the anchovies) and place the tray on a high shelf in the oven for the peppers to roast for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Then transfer the cooked peppers to a serving dish, with all the precious juices poured over, and garnish with a sprig of basil leaves. These do need good bread to go with them as the juices are sublime - focaccia would be perfect.

PIEDMONT ROASTED BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Cut the peppers in half and remove seeds and ribs, but leave the stalks intact for presentation purposes.
• Place the peppers in a lighly oiled roasting pan. (use a good solid shallow roasting pan).
• Cut the peeled tomatoes in quarters and place in peppers.
• Divide the anchovies among the 4 peppers.
• Thinly slice garlic and divide between the peppers.
• Drizzle the olive oil onto each pepper.
• Season with freshly ground pepper. (no salt).
• Roast peppers on the highest shelf of a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour.