baked peppers and tomatoes

...this photo was from before they were baked...I forgot to take a picture afterward!

This is one of my favourite recipes to make in the fall when Ontario tomatoes are at their best and red peppers aren't so expensive.

I stumbled on this dish over 15 years ago. At that time, TVO aired many different British cooking shows and would offer the companion book on mail-order at the end of the show (another favourite at that time was an Indian cooking show by Madhur Jaffrey). This comes from the doyenne of British cookery, Delia Smith, on her Christmas special. Her recipe includes fennel inside the baked peppers but since I am alone in my home in my affection for the flavour of licorice, I have adapted it without (although it would probably be delicious).

Roasted Red Peppers (adapted from Delia Smith's Christmas - 1990)

4 large red/yellow peppers, cut in half, seeds removed

1 carton of fresh "heirloom" cherry tomatoes, quartered

3 cloves garlic, sliced very thinly

8 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

* In a 9X13 pan, arrange the peppers, cut-side up. Distribute the tomatoes and tuck in the slices of garlic (so they don't burn). Drizzle one tablespoon of oil into each pepper. Add a generous grinding of pepper and salt on top. Bake at 350F for about one hour. After taking the pan out of the oven, squeeze the lemon juice over top. Serve with good sourdough bread, rice or egg noodles.