My most favorite appetizer ever, it's got everything you need: fresh veggies, garlic, salty capers, olive oil topped on french bread and enjoyed in the sun with a glass of wine and good company. The kind of company that is either close friends or family that doesn't mind the olive oil running down your arm and you talking with your mouth full again... awww, what a nice time.
I am not sure where my Mom learned to make this, but she's been making it for decades (and she is NO Italian mama...). She made it long before people ate roasted peppers here, capers were mostly 'exotic' and anchovies, well anchovies... I know how most people feel about those. This is where I learned to like them in their whole salty, bristley little fillets. If you don't like anchovies, you could omit them, or better yet, get anchovy paste and mix a little into the dressing, it tastes great.
I saw a dish something like this on my favorite food blog Smitten Kitchen the other day, and frankly, while the mozzarella she included sounded good, mine has more zip. You know how I feel about zip... right? My recipe includes more dressing because one of the best parts of this appetizer is dabbing (soaking?) your bread in the dressing and then piling it with peppers and attempting to eat it before the capers bounce off all over your shirt... but maybe that's just me.
One more thing, before your embark on roasting your own peppers, if you are feeling especially lazy or short on time, you CAN buy already roasted peppers in a jar at most grocery stores to substitute, I've done it and served it to family and no one... no one called foul, and believe me, they expert foul callers! These fresh peppers cost about $6, and three jars of already roasted peppers would probably cost you about $10-12.
Serves 6-8 enthusiastic eaters
Ingredients:
6 peppers, 2-3 different colors is ideal
7-10 garlic cloves, crushed
10-12 anchovies, crushed, or half crushed, half whole
(OR 2 Tbsp anchovy paste)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4-1/3 cup red wine vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup small capers
Fresh basil, shredded on top, or as a garnish on the side
Roast the peppers over the grill or under the broiler. Char the peppers until they are beginning to blacken and bubble but not black all over!
(I also used some mini peppers I had on hand, but they were harder to
peel and use for a dish like this, but I needed to use them up!)
They will look something like this. I probably should have gotten them a bit more uniformly charred, but I didn't, and therefore, some parts were hard to peel!
After roasting the peppers, place a plastic bag over the plate and let them steam. This helps to make them easy to peel. Let sit until cool, then peel them by rubbing off the skins with your hands,and removing the core/stem and as many seeds as you can. P.S. This is a messy job!
After you peel and clean the peppers, slice them thinly and arrange on a platter. I did mine in strips of color, but any arrangement works... even no arrangement whatsoever!
For the dressing, crush up the garlic and mince/mash your anchovies, mix in the vinegar and then the olive oil. Add the capers (a little caper juice is nice too) and lots of fresh ground pepper... taste the dressing and adjust salt, because of the capers, you may not need much salt.
You can do this up the day before and put in the fridge, but try to bring to room temperature before serving with lots of fresh sliced french bread.
What is this appetizer called?
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