Peperoni in Brusco / Slow Cooked Peppers with Capers and Anchovies

I like to use red, yellow or orange peppers only. I find them sweeter than the green ones and more pleasing to the eye. 

The recipe below is a revisited adaptation coming from one of the Italian cook books on regional food and cooking (chapter about Piedmont). The kind of large volume book with no pictures, most likely to be missed on a book shelve but it’s a real mine of good recipes and ideas.

The anchovies here melt beautifully into the sauce and in case you are not a fan of them, you would’t even know that they are there.

Very often I make this dish a day in advance to allow the flavours to permeate.

I just gently reheat it when needed and serve slightly warm with a few pieces of good bread on the  side.

Serves 4 as a side dish or part of antipasto:

• 2 large red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped into rectangles  or squares 
• 2 large yellow peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped into rectangles or squares 
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and cut into smaller pieces
• 1 teaspoon of capers, roughly chopped (if using capers in salt, soak them in cold water for one hour before using)
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• a splash of white wine
• 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and basil leaves
• salt to taste

In a pan heat the olive oil on a medium heat. 

Add the peppers and fry until they soften a little (but retaining still some crunch) and gain a light golden colour. 

Now stir in the garlic, anchovies and capers into the pan and fry everything together for a few minutes on a low to medium heat, making sure not to burn the garlic.

Pour over the wine, put the heat up ever so slightly and wait until the wine has almost evaporated.

Now add the red wine vinegar and cook everything on a low heat for another five minutes or so.

Towards the end of cooking stir in the chopped parsley and basil, taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve still slightly warm.