Sweet slow-roasted red peppers filled with Mediterranean flavours of tomato, garlic, black olives and olive oil. A “veganised” version of Simon Hopkinson’s Piedmontese Peppers.
2tomatoes, chopped into chunks (or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved)
2garlic cloves, sliced thinly
8black olives, pitted and sliced (or you can use black olive tapenade instead)
1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
1teaspoonpomegranate molasses, or balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
a few flaked almonds, (optional)
fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Instructions
Set the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Cut the peppers in half vertically through the stem then pull out the seeds and cut out the stem. Lay the peppers flat (so that they look like cups) on a roasting tray or small casserole dish. Liberally season the insides with salt and pepper then distribute the sliced garlic inside the peppers. Add in the chopped tomato and sliced black olives on top of the garlic to fill each pepper. Pour the olive oil over the top and drizzle with pomegranate molasses on top. Put in the oven to roast for 40 mins.
When they are ready, they should be soft and juicy and slightly blackened on the edges. Sprinkle over a few flaked almonds on top (if you like) and pop them back in the oven for a 5 more minutes for the almonds to toast a little.
Take them out of the oven and garnish with basil leaves. Serve with spoonfuls of the delicious juices from the roasting tin poured over the top.
Notes
The juices really make this dish so please don’t forget to spoon them over the peppers when serving!
Use only red, orange or yellow peppers for this dish as they are sweeter than the green ones. For best results, use the best quality tomatoes and olives that you can find.
Substitute with green olives if you prefer but it will give a different flavour profile.