I love cooked capsicum but I’m not so fond of them raw. I love how grilling or baking them intensifies the natural sweetness & transports the texture to velvety smooth. These mouthfuls are deliciously oily & salty, such a lovely colourful savoury platter to share.
Makes about 18 pepper boats:
3 large capsicums/bell peppers
1 or 2 tomatoes, sliced
1 or 2 cloves garlic
12-15 black olives (if olives aren’t your thing, capers deliver an equally wonderful salty burst)
olive oil
salt & pepper
Preheat the oven to 180C. Create little ‘boats’ by slicing the capsicums lengthwise – cut down the natural ribs, then cut in half again. From an average pepper, you’ll end up with about 6 pieces. Trim away any white pithy parts, discard seeds & stalk.
Arrange the boats on a baking tray & pop a slice or two of tomato into each one. Adjust the size of the tomato to suit – you may end up cutting into quarters & arranging a couple of slices inside the pepper.
Crush a clove of garlic (or two) over the boats, adding a sprinkling to each one.
Slice the olives, adding 2 or 3 pieces to each boat. Pour a dash of olive oil on top of each boat & season with salt & pepper.
Bake for about 30 minutes. Slight charring around the edges is fine. Also fine to serve them warm or cold.
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