Bell Pepper Salad
This recipe was given to me by my Spanish grandmother as a precious secret. However, I believe it would be too sad to keep this kind of secret, which has delighted my family for generations. This way of cooking bell peppers highlights their sweetness and brings about velvety caramel flavours.
Garlic adds a decisive touch that makes this dish unforgettable... Adjust the quantity of garlic to your taste. If you want to make it milder, you can lightly fry the garlic clove in its skin before crushing it and mixing it with the peppers. Always remove the germ to make the garlic easier to digest.
If you dislike garlic, an alternative is to use finely chopped white onion marinated in vinegar.
Prep time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 25 minutes
Ingredients for 4 pax
3 firm bell peppers of various colours (in this case 2 reds and 1 green)
1 clove of garlic, peeled, de-germed and crushed
5 nice fresh basil leaves, chopped
Sherry wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil (we would recommend Le 4 Contrade as its notes of red pepper will echo that of the real vegetable)
Salt and pepper
Preparation
Turn on the oven in grill position. Wash the peppers and place them on a baking tray (protect with baking paper if you wish) and put the tray as high as possible in the oven, without the peppers touching the upper rack.
Let the peppers roast for about 20 minutes, turning them as soon as blisters appear and before they darken too much. You definitely need to stay nearby for this part of the process. Remove them as soon as they are evenly blistered all around. Leave them to cool in a covered casserole or a deep dish covered with a plate. This will allow the skin to continue to peel off the flesh.
This is the most manual and, I would say, almost sensual step in this recipe. Once the peppers are at room temperature, peel the skin by gently pulling the thin skin off the flesh. Remove stem and seeds, rinse the flesh or wipe it with a cloth if necessary to remove the last seeds. Remove any white threads from the inside of the peppers.
Cut the pepper flesh into thin long strips.
In a dish, mix the peppers strips, garlic, basil, one tablespoon of vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. It's ready!
This salad can be kept in an airtight dish in the fridge for about 3 days. Its flavours will mellow over time. This is a mainstay to any of our tapas or mezze tables, and I hope you love it as much as we do!