Piperade (recipe)
Making maximum use of the pantry is the mantra of Cooking to Beat the Clock. One of my favorite pantry items is roasted red bell peppers in a jar.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to roast fresh red bell peppers in summer on the grill, then peel and seed them for salads, pastas, or as part of an antipasto platter. But I don’t always have the time. In addition, out of season fresh red bell peppers can be expensive. That’s where the convenience of peppers in a jar comes in. They’re already roasted (sometimes you can see bits of blackened skin still on them), peeled and packed in their own juices. And the quality is usually very good.
Red bell peppers are also called sweet peppers to distinguish them from hot chili peppers. In case you were wondering, red bell peppers are green bell peppers that have stayed on the vine longer. As a result, they are sweeter and contain more vitamin C and much more vitamin A.
Pimientos are heart-shaped sweet red peppers usually from Spain. They have a milder flavor and softer texture than domestic red bells, so I tend to use them less often. But they are frequently available already chopped or sliced, which makes them very convenient. Spain also produces the ultimate sweet red pepper, the piquillo. Rich with a slightly smoky flavor and silky texture, the piquillo is pricey. So let it shine by itself rather than mucking it up with too many seasonings or other ingredients.
Sweet red peppers from the jar can be used in a variety of dishes. Add them to pasta dishes with some chick peas, feta, black olives, and Italian parsley, for example. Use them in bean salads—perhaps cannellini beans with new potatoes, shrimp and fresh sage. Corn is a natural partner of sweet peppers in hot or cold dishes like a sauté of fresh corn with scallions and thyme or a corn salad with fresh cilantro and sweet onions.
Sweet peppers make a good sandwich accompaniment too, as in the classic Provencal pan bagna. For this sandwich, slather the inside of cut French bread with garlicky olive oil, then layer with tuna, anchovies, capers, thinly sliced red onion, tomatoes, the peppers, and some basil or arugula leaves. Wrap in foil, weight down, and refrigerate several hours or overnight. A great picnic dish.
Use sweet red peppers for quick sauces or salsas on grilled meats, poultry, or fish or on tacos. You can even use peppers from a jar to make rouille, the spicy sauce swirled into bouillabaisse.
Piperade is a Basque sauté of peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and herbs that can be put atop fish or chicken. But piperade can also mean an egg dish made with the above ingredients. I most often make it as a flat omelet or frittata, but here I’ve made it as more of an egg scramble. Serve it with or on thick slices of toasted country bread.
Piperade
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium to large onion, 8 to 12 ounces
2 cloves garlic
One 7-ounce jar roasted red bell peppers
One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
4 ounces lean boiled or baked ham
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon herbs de Provence
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 or 5 large sprigs parsley, preferably flat leaf, enough for 2 to 3 tablespoons
when chopped
8 eggs
1)Put the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Peel and cut the onion in sixths. Peel the garlic. Put both in a food processor and pulse until chopped, or chop by hand. Add to the skillet and increase the heat to medium high.
2)Drain the bell peppers from the jar. Chop coarsely. Drain the tomatoes. Coarsely chop the ham. Add the peppers, tomatoes, ham, herbs de Provence and salt and pepper to taste to the skillet. Stir well and cook until almost all of the moisture has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Then turn the heat down to medium.
3)Meanwhile, chop the parsley. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper and add the parsley.
4)Add the eggs to the skillet. As soon as the bottom begins to set, start scraping the bottom of the pan (with a wide wooden spoon or wide hard rubber spatula) to form curds. Don’t rush, let the eggs set again before scraping to form more curds. Continue until all the eggs are just cooked. (Lower the heat if the eggs are cooking too quickly.), Serve the eggs over thick slices of toasted country bread.
Serves 4
Per serving: 309 calories, 207 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrate, 19 grams fat, 5 grams saturated fat, 440 mg cholesterol, 702 mg sodium.