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.
Robin Ellis 