My take on Elizabeth David's Roasted Red Peppers

Saturday Heaven......  I'm sitting in the kitchen listening to Saturday Kitchen, the washing machine and dishwasher are humming away.  Hubby is busy mowing the lawn before heading off to the golf course.  Less of us, back to the food!
This has to be my all time favourite vegetable dish.  I've been making this for at least 20 years and it is a real crowd pleaser.  Lovely as a starter or a light supper with crusty bread to mop up the scrumptious juices.  It always make me think of Tuscany.  Anchovies are not everyone's cup of tea so I leave them out if someone doesn't want them.

Ingredients

4 large red peppers

4 medium sized tomatoes

8 anchovy fillets

2 cloves of garlic

8 dessert spoons of extra virgin olive oil or try British rape seed oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Basil leaves to serve.

For this recipe to work it is crucial to use a solid shallow roasting tray so the peppers develop nutty toasted edges. 

Method

Pre heat the oven to 180C.

Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds but leave the stalks intact as they help the peppers keep their shape.  Do not eat the stalks!

Put the pepper halves in the lightly oiled tray.  

Now place the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Leave for one minute, then drain and peel the skins off.  Sometimes I can't be bothered with this stage and just leave the skins on.

Cut the tomatoes into quarters and place two quarters in each pepper half.

Next snip one anchovy fillet per pepper half into rough pieces and add to the tomatoes. 

Slice the garlic very thinly and divide equally between the tomatoes and anchovies.  

Spoon one dessert spoon of oil into each pepper, season with black pepper and place the tray on a high shelf in the oven and roast for 50 - 60 minutes.

Transfer the cooked peppers to a serving dish, with all the scrumptious juices poured over and garnish with ripped basil leaves. 

Serve with crusty bread to mop up the juices.   Ciao!