Recipe - Red Pepper Florentine With Heat

4 lg Fresh tomatoes
3 lg Red bell peppers
1 md Red onion
Favorite chiles of the
season; or hot sauce to
taste
2 Cloves (large) garlic;
peeled and cut or sliced up
4 tablespoon Olive oil; divided
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
One half teaspoon Salt
Black pepper grindings to
taste

THE CROUTONS
2 tablespoon Olive oil
1 Clove garlic; finely
chopped or mashed to a
paste
2 cup Stale French or Italian
bread; cut into Three fourths inch
cubes
1 ds Favorite compatible hot

TO FINISH THE SALAD
sauce
Handful of chopped fresh
parsley
Fresh basil leaves
Leaf or Romaine lettuce
Grated cheese

The tomatopepper mixture may be prepared a day or so ahead, but once the
croutons are added, serve this salad immediately.

Core the tomatoes. Cut into quarters, and then in half again. Core and seed
the peppers and cut the flesh into 1inch squares. Cut the onion into
medium slices and dice the chiles.

Heat 3 Tbs olive oil in large sauce pan (big enough tohold all the
ingredients). Saute the onion and garlic until translucent, then add
tomatoes, chiles (or sauce to taste), and peppers. Turn the heat down,
cover the pan and cook over mediumlow heat until most of the liquid has
evaporated. This will take about 20 minutes. Stir frequently and during the
final 5 minutes, cook uncovered so you can watch and prevent scorching.

Remove from heat and add remaining Tbs of olive oil, vinegar, salt and
pepper. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate if not serving soon.

To make the croutons, combine the olive oil and mashed garlic and mix well.
Put croutons into a large bowl, then drizzle with oil, tossing to get some
on all of the bread. Spread the croutons on a baking sheet and place in a
350degree oven. Bake, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown and
aromatic, about 15 minutes.

To assemble the salad, gently stir the croutons, half the chopped parsley
and some torn basil leaves into the pepper mixture. Arrange a leaf or two
of romaine on a plate and add a mound of the salad. Sprinkle with
additional parsley and add a sprig of basil. Grate small amount of your
favorite cheese on top. Serves 4 or 5.

Bill wbradford@delphi.com Salt Lake City, Utah

CHILEHEADS ARCHIVES

From the ChileHeads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
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