I can say with confidence that I was raised in a Sicilian household on Sicilian food prepared by my mother. My father would come home from his full time job of roofing and siding in the warmer months completely exhausted. He would always have energy to work in his garden for hours. My dad would grab a cold Fosters and walk around his garden with pride. When he was finished with his cold beer, he started weeding, harvesting and picking all the ripe vegetables. Some were prepared for dinner that night by my mother. A bunch would be put aside to pickle and preserve. The rest, my father would share with all his friends, family and neighbors. I always found it so fascinating that my dad had all that energy after a hard day on a hot roof, but yet took so much effort and hard work to grow something from the ground up. It was uniquely rewarding to my dad to nourish his family from nothing but seeds.
One of my favorite childhood memories was roasting peppers with my parents. We always had an assembly line. My dad would pick bushels of peppers. Then my mother and I would wash, cut and prepare for the grilling process which took hours; my mom would freeze them for the winter months. The scent was amazing! Yet so foreign to our neighbors.
Yellow, orange, and red peppers
Garlic, peeled and sliced into shavings
A handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
A teaspoon of dried oregano
Salt and pepper ( to taste)
Wash peppers and place them whole, on a clean hot grill. Turn the peppers constantly with tongs until the skin turns black. Carefully turn them on all sides and continue to grill until they are charred (about 3-5 min. per side). Remove the roasted peppers and place them in the brown bag to cool. The steam in the bag makes them easy to peel. While the peppers are resting, prepare the marinade by combining all the above ingredients in a serving dish.
Now the messy part. Once the peppers are cool, remove them from the bag. Peel off the charred skin scraping it off with a knife. Scrape out the seeds and cut off the stems. Toss the fleshy roasted peppers into a colander to drain out all the water. Once your done, take each pepper and cut them into long thin strips and place them in the marinade.
If you you have been eating peppers from a jar, you have been missing out on an entirely different experience. When you roast and peel them yourself it’s a little more work, but well worth the effort.
I usually serve these gems with roasted sausage and a big loaf of nutty crusty bread. If you have leftovers, you can put them in a sandwich or pile them on crostini and slap a hunk of goat cheese on top.
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