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Roasted Pepper, Anchovy, and Caper Salad

A well-known standard, this marinated salad combines the sweetness of peppers with the saltiness of anchovies and capers, using a good olive oil to tie all the flavors together. You can use jarred roasted peppers (ā€œpimientosā€) for this if you like. Canned or jarred piquillo peppers (page 47) are better, but still not as good as peppers you roast yourself. The best anchovies commonly available are sold in jars, packed in olive oil. It’s best to make this salad ahead of time so the flavors marry. Eat this at lunch, as a starter, or as a side dish with something flavorful, like Beef Stew with Dried Mushrooms (page 380).

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound red, yellow, and/or orange bell peppers, roasted, stemmed, seeded, and peeled (page 470)
1/4 pound anchovy fillets
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 tablespoons drained capers
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish, optional

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut the roasted peppers into 1-inch strips and lay a quarter of them on the bottom of a casserole dish. Spread a third of the anchovies, 1 garlic clove, 1 tablespoon of the capers, and 1 teaspoon of the oregano evenly on top. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Repeat two more times and then top with the remaining peppers.

    Step 2

    Pour enough olive oil over the salad to cover the top layer of peppers. Marinate for at least 2 hours at room temperature. If marinating overnight, cover and refrigerate, but bring back to room temperature before serving. Use the parsley at the last minute if you choose to do so.

The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. Ā© 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved. MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
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