MORE END OF SUMMER FARE

I KNOW that I've been lax here and it doesn't sound like I have any excuses, but I do, and they're personal as well as private. Nevertheless, I want to continue with my personal exploration into end of summer vegetables. Since I already spoke about corn, I'll go on to something with a somewhat different color but will return to corn in another vein completely later on. For today's purposes, I'd like to explore the ubiquitous bell pepper. Included in that will be the tomato and the eggplant.

With tomato and anchovy only

Let me begin by saying that I have lately discovered a British cook by the name of Simon Hopkinson, who is in my mind, a very witty and extremely brilliant chef. I found him accidentally on the stacks in the cookbook section of the New York Public Library and renewed the two books I borrowed - twice! - before going to the ever dependable Amazon.com and purchasing said two volumes. They are called Roast Chicken and Other Stories and Second Helpings of Roast Chicken. Nigella loves him; calls him a genius. That's enough endorsement for me and she's right: the books are good enough for the kitchen and the bedside table. I've found myself bellowing out loud on the bus reading his prose. So that said, here is a recipe I found in the first volume called Peppers alla Piedmontese with a few twists of my own added into the mix.

Considering that peppers and tomatoes, AND the eggplant are Sicilian staples, I tweaked this recipe but the method basically remains the same.

The finished product with eggplant and tomato!

This can be made one or two days ahead of time and served with antipasto (at room temperature), but I guarantee you that once you've had a bite, whatever you have left from however many of these you make in one recipe, they won't last, so delicious are they!

I use a round heavy-bottomed cast iron skillet for these. Take a piece of parchment paper and place the pan on top and draw a circle around the pan. Cut the paper to fit the inside of the pan and brush with olive oil. To help the peppers stand more upright, I quarter a fennel bulb rub it with oil and salt and pepper and roast these as arranged in the photograph below. 

2 bell peppers (red, orange, and/or yellow - NO green)

4-8 ultra ripe plum tomatoes (skinned, halved, cored and all seeds removed)*

1 cup eggplant caponata or any leftover eggplant and tomato relish you may have in the house (see my recipe for salt cod to follow)

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1 tsp. fresh minced thyme

8 whole anchovy filets

Preheat the oven to 425º (400º for convection roast)

Cut the peppers in half, remove stem and all seeds. Chop 2 of the tomatoes into a pulp and reserve. Place tomato halves or quarters into each pepper making sure they occupy the entire cavity. Divide the thyme over each piece, and sprinkle some olive oil, salt and pepper on them. Add a bit of eggplant mixture to cover. Use whatever you have to make a nice mound. Take a teaspoon or two of the tomato pulp and cover the eggplant mixture. Sprinkle some salt pepper and a pinch of sugar on the tomato and then drizzle some olive oil on top. 

Put skillet in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Turn down the heat to 350º and roast for another 45-60 minutes. I have found that the peppers need more time, even with convection and don't really take on that blistered, shrunken appearance until after 80-90 minutes. But we are at the peak of summer here and the peppers I used while trying to be judicious in size, are still huge and need more time to cook and for the stuffing to meld with the pepper. Keeping this in mind, it is wise to keep an eye on them after an hour and definitely use a timer in 10 minute increments. You'll smell them - it will be pungent! - when they're truly ready to come out of the oven.

Just out of the oven!

*Just an aside here: One day last week, I bought some ultra ripe plum tomatoes at the green market in my neighborhood at the end of the day and found some of these delicious fruits in the $1.00 a pound bin! So be on the lookout for those tomatoes which must be used immediately and you'll be on the right track. I bought a few pounds and used them up. Unfortunately, Ludwig doesn't like raw tomatoes but he likes anchovies and fish of all kinds!