My Slow Roasted Peppers

Aah these peppers! They came out of the oven more than once over the December holidays and probably my most shared recipe amongst friends. I feel a bit self conscience calling this a ‘recipe’ as it is so simple but low and slow is the aim here, so give yourself some time.

See my serving suggestions on just how versatile this recipe can be.

Serves 4 as a side or 2 as a light lunch (I work on the basis of 2 peppers per person)

Getting ahead: These peppers are a fantastic make ahead dish and I like to serve mine at room temperature, they keep

Add ons: A crumble of feta once cooked would be amazing. A few sprinkles of Za’atar would be great too at the end.

Okay so here we go!

• you can use the small (mini) peppers and fill them as below, shorten the cooking time and serve them as a fantastic finger food option
• these peppers are amazing with a poached egg for breakfast or a light lunch
• I love these peppers cold with some dressed leaves on the side.

• 6 peppers (mixed colours work well)
• 3 tablespoons capers, roughly chopped if large
• 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives (green is fine too), roughly chopped
• half a small punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
• handful chopped basil or parsley.
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven on 150c.
2. Cut the peppers and halve, deseed and cut away any white flesh and remove any seeds.
3. Place peppers on a roasting tray lined with baking paper.
4. Fill with capers, olives and tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil and season well.
5. Place in the oven and roast for 60 minutes and checking after about 40 minutes. You are looking for completely soft and a little bit of a caramelisation around the edges of the peppers and the tomatoes.
6. Remove from the oven, let it cool, drizzle with more olive oil, a crack of black pepper and sprinkle over the chopped basil or parsley.

As a family we celebrate and open our presents on Christmas Eve, I’m not sure if that’s an Afrikaans tradition but it is a night of great excitement. The kids look forward to the presents and the grown-ups to my moms cooking! This year (2019) my mom handed the reigns over to me and I had the daunting task of cooking for 22 people on Christmas Eve. I made these peppers (for me, the only vegetarian in the family : ) alongside a roasted greens salad w pesto, oxtail ragu, gremolata and some pappardelle. It went down a treat!