What I remember most when my Montenegrin aunt gently fried pale green peppers in olive oil is the heavenly smell. There is something about that aroma, both savoury and sweet, which makes you very hungry.
When the peppers became beautifully soft from all the stewing in the olive oil, my aunt would pile them onto a large plate, scatter with lots of raw garlic slices and sea salt. The peppers were left to cool on the balcony for 10 minutes so you could then eat them with your fingers (seriously, the best way); pull away the outer skin and the seeds.
I’ve used the smaller, hotter green peppers that I find in the Turkish and Arab supermarkets in London. They are not too hot, but have a nice kick to them. You don’t need to eat the raw garlic slices as they are added at the end to impart just the right amount of flavour to the hot peppers and oil, but don’t let that stop you….!
Miraculous ingredients: green chilli peppers (best found in a middle eastern food shop), extra virgin olive oil
Mild green chilli peppers fried in olive with garlic
Ingredients
10 Green chilli peppers
Extra virgin olive oil for frying
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
Sea salt
Method Place a medium size frying pan (which has a lid) on a low heat and add enough extra virgin olive oil so it’s about 1cm deep. Lay the peppers head to tail in the pan, squeeze them in as they shrink during cooking. Put the lid on and gently fry for about 10 minutes (check every now and again to make sure that the peppers are not burning).
Turn the peppers over with long handled tongs and fry the other side for 10 minutes.
When the peppers are soft and browned, remove from the pan to a warm plate. Scatter the finely sliced garlic and sea salt all over and serve with crusty bread and a glass of wine!
Preparation time 5 minutes, cooking 20 minutes, 2 adult portions