Yellow Pepper & Sun-Dried Tomato Appetizer a la Tel Aviv

Mirj's Note:

This appetizer is very trendy right now in Tel Aviv. It's a modern Mediterranean-style dish that bridges the gap between traditional Middle-Eastern and contemporary European food. Serve with hunks of country-style bread.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 10 -15 sun-dried tomatoes
• 4 -5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 yellow bell peppers, stemmed,deribbed and cut into bite-size pieces
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (canned OK)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leave
• 1 pinch sugar
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 -3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

Directions:

1. Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl and add hot water to cover.
2. Let soak for at least 30 minutes, then drain and cut into halves or quarters.
3. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
4. Add the peppers and saute for 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned.
5. Don't let them get too soft.
6. Add half of the garlic, the diced tomatoes, thyme and sugar.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Increase the heat to high and cook until the mixture is reduced to a thick paste.
9. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, capers and the remaining garlic.
10. Let cool to room temperature.
11. May be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
12. Serve at warm-room temperature, heaped in a bowl and sprinkled with parsley.

Reviews

[Mrs.Habu]

This is great and very easy to make. Everyone enjoyed it! I served this as a side dish with salad, humous and stuffed vine leaves. Lovely! Will definately make again.

[Picholine]

Scrumptious on its own, but I was in a pinch for dinner, so I ended up using it as sauce for spaghetti. My DH raved! Here's the shortcuts I took: used marinated sun-dried tomatoes which was a big time saver, 1/2 t dried thyme, canned tomatoes. I also added more sugar and vinegar, and threw in some oil cured black olives (wrinkly kind) that I pitted with my handy dandy olive pitter. Thanks for posting this versatile recipe that's bursting with flavor!

[nomnom]

I made this for dinner last night as a side, except I roasted the pepper, halved the recipe, added in chopped mushroom stems and stuffed the filling in the mushrooms. Kept well overnight in the fridge (I did prep work the day prior) and I think the flavors married well. I quickly baked them for about 7 mins at 350*F and sprinkled some fat free feta on top. The results: UNANIMOUS - BETTER than the MAIN dish!! NEXT time, I'mm make the full recipe, stuff portabellas, and serve as the main. Yum! Yum!! YUM!!! And healthy too!