My mother used to cook this beautiful and luscious-tasting dish. Please use this recipe as a guideline – you can improvise on the timing and ingredients. For a Provencal touch, you can put halved kalamata (black) olives, capers or toasted pine nuts at the end. I toss fresh herbs in the mix, e.g. rosemary, basil, oregano or thyme, and I put a sprinkling of dried herbs – herbes de provence or fines herbes. You can put into the peperonata a pinch of red pepper flakes. The sweet and simple concoction is a winner.
2 to 3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 large bell peppers (one red, orange and yellow), sliced in strips or diced
I small onion, peeled and sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeped and finely chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
⅓ cup of fresh chopped herbs, chopped
1 cup to 2 cups of ripe cherry tomatoes, halved OR 2 to 3 big ripe tomatoes, diced
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place peppers and onion in skillet. Cook 10 to 15 minutes until peppers to soften and get some colour. Add garlic, salt, pepper, herbs and tomatoes. Cook about another 10 minutes or until tomatoes burst and release their juices.
Serve warm or at room temperature with roasted meat or simply toasted slices of baguette.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.