Stewed Venetian peppers
Valentina Harris
SERVES 4
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 1 hour 20 minutes
This is the Venetian version of a dish that is made all over the country, especially at the start of autumn, when the markets are filled with enormously juicy, brightly coloured peppers of every shape and size. The texture of the finished dish is very soft and squashy, almost like jam. It is very important to keep everything moist during the cooking process and to make sure the peppers are very sweet. This is fabulous with either chicken or fish, or on it's own as a topping for crostini or bruschetta. If you prefer, you can leave out the aubergines and the onions, and just stick to the peppers, onions and garlic.
500g yellow or red sweet peppers
400g aubergines
300g small onions
300g small tomatoes
1 clove garlic
½ glass dry white wine
75g unsalted butter
75g extra-virgin olive oil
salt
Prepare all the vegetables first by washing and drying them, then cutting them all into even-sized chunks. Fry the butter and oil together with the garlic until the garlic goes brown. Discard the garlic and add the onions. Cook the onions until just soft, and then add the aubergines, the peppers and the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the wine and add salt to taste. Cover and simmer gently for about one hour, taking care to keep the heat low and to stir frequently.