Instructions: Grilling and skinning peppers is a fundamental cooking technique mat produces a delicious soft smooth succulent texture that makes them first ratein a salad but also has other uses. You could for instance wrap grilled quarters of pepper round a filling (cooked rice capers spring onion and crab for instance bound with a little mayonnaise) as an hors d oeuvre. They are excellent on hot pasta too or with eggs fried in olive oil (sharpen the peppers with a little balsamic or sherry vinegar).

There are severai ways of grilling the peppers. Which one you use depends on the number you are tackling and on your equipment.

The trick is to get the heat just high enough to char the skin and cook the flesh perfectly. Too hot and your peppers are semi raw under the black; too gentle and by the time the skin is burnt the flesh is dry as a bone. The peppers can also be cooked whole In a hot oven but I miss the smokiness of grilling.

For a salad the essential ingredients besides the peppers themselves are extra virgin olive oll at least a hint of garlic and a good sprinkling of parsley. Vinegar Is not absolutely necessary but a splash of sharpness may be appreciated. Other additions can make the salad more substantial but dont over load the peppers with distractions. I usually reckon on a quarter to half pepper fora person depending on how the salad is to be served.

Incidentally do not grill those intriguing dark purple skinned peppers: their dramatic colour turns a disappointing murky green.

If you are cooking just one or two peppers it is easiest to speareach one on a fork and hold it in the flame of a gas cooker turning until the skin is black and blistered all over. With four or five peppers to deal with I find it better to quarter and de seed them then grill the quarters with the skin side close to the heat.

With larger numbers of peppers you might as well grill them whole (you will be able to getmore on to the grill rack at one time) or quartered as you prefer. You can also grill them on a thoroughly pre heated heavy cast iron griddle.

Once the peppers are charred all over (take this literally or else youll have trouble stripping off the skin) drop them into a plastic bag and knot loosely or into a bowl and cover lightly with cling film.

Leave until the peppers are cool enough to handle. The trapped steam loosens the skins making them easier to remove. Now pull away the skin brush off the black flakes (the odd black speckle wont hurt) deseed and discard stalks if necessary.

With the preliminaries over and done with cut the peppers into long narrow strips; and scoop them into a shallow dish along with any juice that has oozed out. Dress with a little crushed garlic a generous drizzle If you are not eatng immediately cover with foil and store in the fridge. This is a salad that can be keptfor several days and will improve with keeping. Bring them back to room temperature before eating.

Serve with chopped parsley or a one or two of many possible additions and the best bread you can muster either alone as a first course or as part of an hors d oeuvre with salamis cured ham and the like.

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