Percy’s Red Peppers–the remake…

August 16, 2012 by Robin Ellis

Our friend Charlotte first served us this delicious dish of red peppers. The eponymous Percy is a friend of hers.

They were on the menu together with slow-cooked chicken breasts for Brian and Ren’s last night.

I checked my blog to see if I had already posted this recipe and found no reference.

Hooray, I thought, this will make a good post today as a starter or vegetable.

I googled Percy’s Pickled Pepper–thinking what a good intro the tongue twister would be–and up came my post from a year ago!

Percy Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Percy Piper picked;
If Percy Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Percy Piper picked?

Of course, Peter ‘s picking in the nursery rhyme–but Percy’s just as hard to say….

This year’s version:

for four

4 red peppers— cored, de-seeded and sliced fine lengthwise.

3 or 4 garlic cloves skinned and left whole.

12 anchovy fillets–chopped up

2 tblsps small capers

2 tblsps olive oil–plus extra for dribbling

pepper to taste

In a large pan over a low heat gently soften the peppers with the garlic cloves in the olive oil; it’s worth taking the time to do this–undercooked peppers are as unpalatable as undercooked aubergines/eggplants.

Take a strip of pepper out of the pan from time to time, to test for doneness.

In a small pan melt the anchovies slowly in a little olive oil by stirring and mashing them.

Add the capers to the melted anchovies and stir the mix into the peppers.
Season with pepper.
Turn the mixture into an ovenproof serving dish.

Heat the oven to 180˚ half-an-hour before you’re ready to eat.

Pop the peppers in the oven to heat through (about 10 minutes).
Serve warm with more olive oil drizzled over.

The less-than-a-peck of peppers I prepared for supper disappeared before you could say Percy Piper!

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes, Robin Ellis | Tagged Anchovy, garlic, nursery rhyme, Peck, pepper recipe, peter piper picked, pickled peppers, red peppers | 15 Comments

15 Responses

on August 16, 2012 at 9:51 am | Reply Roz

Oh dear, no picture, I like to see what it should have looked like 🙂
- on August 16, 2012 at 10:18 am | Reply Robin Ellis
  
  There is a photo of the finished dish at the top of the post, Roz!
on August 16, 2012 at 11:40 am | Reply Tom Gowans

Hmmn Lovely! Anchovies and Capers. Two more ingredients unavailable here. Why do I torture myself reading your blog? The expression, ‘Slavering like a Nile crocodile’ springs to mind.

Covered in cheese, this dish would also make the perfect pizza topping for me.
on August 16, 2012 at 11:46 am | Reply Nancy J in MIchigan

nice idea for when my peppers ripen in about a month or so.
on August 16, 2012 at 1:52 pm | Reply Victoria

Not keen on anchovies but I do like shrimp and I wondered if you would like for the lovely, light hot & sour soup that I made yesterday. I can’t take the credit for it as the idea came from Nigella’s blog but it is so amazing. Having been wrongly diagnosed with Diabetes i still try to follow a low GI diet do I use a sweetener like Splenda rather than palm sugar but I’ll happily share the recipe as it is a real winner!
- on August 16, 2012 at 2:43 pm | Reply Robin Ellis
  
  How were you wrongly diagnosed, Victoria?
  Happy to have to the recipe, thank you.
on August 16, 2012 at 7:44 pm | Reply Meryl Rudolph

Your blog is a wealth of wonderful information! I will definitively try this recipe now that our New Jersey peppers are coming in steadily! Right now I’m gearing up for freezing some Jersey tomatoes to stock up for the winter. Keep your delightful delicacies coming!
P.S. I bought your recipe book and Making Poldark. You have a gift for writing that makes the reader feel as if you are speaking directly to them. With your voice,ever consider narrating books?
- on August 16, 2012 at 7:56 pm | Reply Robin Ellis
  
  I have done a couple of book readings for the Beeb–it is hard work and I didn’t enjoy it enough, Meryl. Thanks though.
on August 17, 2012 at 6:07 am | Reply Shirley Lane

Hi Robin, any nice recipes for us veggies,? I do love French cheeses so anything that included cheese and nuts . Shirley in the Midlands
- on August 17, 2012 at 7:57 am | Reply Robin Ellis
  
  I’ll look back at the blog–I’m sure here are plenty of veggie recipes. There are certainly a good number in the book.
on August 17, 2012 at 9:55 am | Reply Karen Knight

Oh Robin, you do make me chuckle when you say to test for doneness, don’t know why because I know exactly what you mean but it sounds so funny and I need to smile right now as I’m finding it difficult to recover from major spinal surgery, so thank you. This recipe looks simple and delicious and easy enough even for my husband, who can’t cook (or hasn’t had to cook), to have a go at, although he does love to BBQ and this dish would compliment his BBQ chicken nicely. Shouldn’t complain because he works very hard and does so much for me, but will leave your cook book somewhere he’s sure to find it in the hope of more delicious dishes…….. I know, I’ll prop it open in his kayak later! 🙂
on August 17, 2012 at 10:38 am | Reply Joy

would it be very ‘philistine’ to use sunflower oil instead of olive oil? I hardly dare ask!!!!!!!!!
- on August 17, 2012 at 11:44 am | Reply Robin Ellis
  
  Of course not! But I like the taste of olive oil.
on September 16, 2012 at 8:13 pm | Reply lscvt

Oooooh, I’ve been waiting a month for the peppers to ripen so I could make this! It’s been worth the wait — delicious! And I don’t normally like peppers. Thanks, Robin!
on September 16, 2012 at 9:11 pm | Reply lscvt

Ooooooh, I’ve been waiting a month for the peppers to ripen so I could finally make this! It’s been worth the wait — another winner! I’ve never been disappointed in any of the recipes I’ve made from your blog or your book. Thanks, Robin!