Pepperonata or Piperade

I was in the south of France recently just alongside the Italian border where I tasted one of my favourite dishes from the region where tomatoes, peppers, olives and garlic grow in abundance.  It’s a dish that has variations all over the Mediterranean region, but this one is the one I’m most familiar with.  It can be used in so many ways, as a topping on cooked dough, in a tart, as a sauce for pasta (though it needs to be left a bit more saucy to cover the pasta) – or even on its own as a cold salad dish to accompany fish, cold meats, eggs, or rice salads.  When I spotted extra large Spanish yellow peppers in the Co-op last week I couldn’t resist the temptation to cook it at home.

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Pepperonata or Piperade

• 2-3 large red and yellow peppers
• 1 or 2 onions
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• A generous dollop of olive oil, (and more if you need it!)
• 1 tin of finely chopped good quality tomatoes
• A handful of chopped black olives (optional)
• A handful of roughly chopped Italian parsley to serve (optional)
• Salt and black pepper to taste – and a mild sprinkle of smoked paprika if you’re so inclined.

 
METHOD
In a large wide base pan heat the olive oil and add the chopped garlic to infuse gently in the oil for a few minutes. Be careful! Keep the heat low as you only want to flavour the oil, not to burn the garlic.  Then add the sliced onion(s) and the peppers cut in batons and stir so that everything gets coated in oil.  Raise the heat a little and keep stirring and cooking for about 30 minutes.  Slowly the peppers will soften and begin to taste sweet.  When the peppers are mostly cooked add the tomatoes and raise the heat to get the tomatoes bubbling well.  Put the lid on the pan now so that the tomatoes will cook better in the steam of the pan.  After 10 minutes lift off the lid, stir and taste to see if the sweetness of peppers is coming through. If not, return to heat with lid and cook for another 5 – 10mins.  (Do not season yet as the olives – if using will add quite some saltiness to the dish.) Now, if the tomato sauce is a bit runny you could raise the heat and boil off some of the juice for another 5 minutes but be attentive that it doesn’t stick. (Alternatively you can leave it at like this if you are service with pasta or rice)  Then add the chopped black olives, stir around, and cook for 2 minutes – taste. Now you can season the dish and stir it the parsley.
 
Serve hot or cold with anything that takes your fancy. 

​Katie Verling