Peppers roasted with caciocavallo, black olives, and thyme
Recipes:
Peppers Roasted with Caciocavallo, Black Olives, and Thyme
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Certain vegetables perplex many American cooks. Not their mere existence, but how to cook them. Eggplant is one, artichoke another. Bell peppers seem to be a third; they look so beautiful, almost too shiny and colorful to even put a thumb print on. Most people I know just slice them up and throw them into a salad. But I’m a cook who doesn’t like bell peppers raw, and I say grill them or roast them. Do anything to rid them of their rawness. In my opinion, if they’ve still got a crunch, they’re not at their best. I’m talking about the red, ripe ones. I really don’t care for green bell peppers, raw or cooked. To me their smell is strangely unfood-like, and their flavor really has legs, traveling all over your plate, spreading its essence. When I eat a green bell pepper I sense I’m burping up something vaguely like gasoline for several hours after. The only sweet green peppers I do like are the long Italian frying ones, like my father used to grow in his backyard garden. He picked them when they were just faintly tinged with specks of red. Then my mother slow-roasted or sautéed them, along with onions and sometimes sausages, until they almost seemed dissolved (a truly Italian-American approach). (more…)
Erica De Mane 