Thursday, March 24, 2011

Capsicum


Sometimes called peppers, bell peppers... green, red or yellow? Or apparently orange, purple or white!  I believe the green are unripe red capsicums and the yellow ones, are well, just yellow!  Capsicums seem relegated to a support role:, ie they are  rarely served as a meal in themselves in the same way mushrooms, or eggplant or even potatoes can be.  I suppose capsicum are more about flavour than substance, with one or two exceptions..  My favourite recipes with capsicum are Ratatouille, paella, goulash.. and I always put a slice of green capsicum in my napoletana sauce for 'flavour'...  Back to substance.. Roasted capsicums, as part of antipasto are a great use of excess capsciums, which we rarely have in Alice Springs.  Alternatively, I tried stuffed capsicums last night... I'm not a big fan of stuffed vegetables.. these were OK, but I reckon it will be a couple of years before I venture here again.
The following recipe for roast capsicum is from my sister Jan.. and is a very Ingham (North Queensland) dish that my nonna would often have in her fridge, along with her breaded eggplant and olives which I always wished were grapes.