food comas

I had some leftover anchovy fillets after making the Honey Mustard Glaze for the Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb and so I was exploring what other recipes could use them up.  I decided to use half of them for my Chicken Puttanesca and the other half for this simple baked peppers meze dish I found from my Essential Mediterranean Cookbook (latest edition here).  This appetizer dish places anchovies, garlic, basil and capers in bell pepper wedges and lets the vibrant and salty flavors meld together while roasting.  This creates a warm, savory salad appetizer, which would go well with a nice meze platter.

If you love baked peppers and want to incorporate them in a heartier main course, try Baked Peppers Stuffed with Ground Beef, Wild Rice & Goat Cheese.

Baked Peppers (Capsicums) with Anchovies (from the Essential Mediterranean Cookbook)

Prep time: 15 min
Total cooking time: 50 min
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 yellow peppers (capsicums)
• 3 red peppers (capsicums)
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 12 anchovy fillets, halved lengthways
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 C (~25g)  fresh basil leaves
• 1 T baby capers, rinsed
• extra virgin olive oil, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Cut each pepper in half lengthways, leaving the stem intact,  If the peppers are large, quarter them.  Remove the seeds and membrane.  Drizzle a little of the oil in a baking dish and place the peppers in, skin-side-down.  Season with salt and pepper.

In each pepper, place a halved anchovy fillet, slivers of garlic and a torn basil leaf.  Divide the capers among the peppers.  Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining oil.

Cover the dish with foil and bake the peppers for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and cook for another 25-30 minutes, or until the peppers are tenders.  Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.  Scatter the remaining torn basil leaves over the peppers and serve warm or at room temperature.