Red pepper mezze

Foodie excerpt - Chapter 11. The next adventure is just around the corner, or perhaps behind a door.

“It looks like you’ve been doing mighty well for yourself on this forsaken rock,” Brin observed as he made his way through the large living area adorned by lavish velvet turquoise armchairs and elm wood furniture to further examine the explosives collection.

Vee went into the kitchen and returned with a small bowl of what she described as red pepper mezze and some bread, placing the platter on the long oval table in the centre of the room and inviting the two men to help themselves. She sat down in one of the armchairs. It had thick armrests and a sophisticated buttoned back that she sunk into comfortably. Elis walked over to the table to sit on one of the adjoining wooden chairs, keeping his hands to himself.

“So, what do you want?” Vee asked again.

“I have to tell you, Vee, you haven’t lost your impeccable taste,” Brin said, putting down an incendiary micro-rocket and turning towards their host. “Look, Elis here wants to start a new life, you know how it is in the big cities, everything becomes a hassle, right, we’ve all been there,” Brin explained as he approached the table, going for a taste of the dish. “And he thought he’d start fresh somewhere far away from all the unnecessary complications, closer to nature,” he concluded, enjoying the strong pepper and tomato blend with its pleasantly bitter finish.

Elis shuffled in his chair.

“So, this guy is in some sort of trouble and needs a new piece of identification,” Vee clarified.

“Exactly,” Brin confirmed, putting another spoonful of the extremely tasty appetizer onto a slice of bred. “You could always understand me better than I understand myself.”

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Red pepper mezze

Makes 4 portions

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers

• 4 tomatoes

• 2 small shallots

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1/2 tsp ras el hanout

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp agave syrup

Instructions

Heat the oven to 220 C. Cook the red peppers in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping halfway, until the skin of the peppers is slightly blackened. Let the peppers cool then remove the skin and seeds. Cut the peppers into small cubes and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Prepare a large bowl of cold water. Cut an X shape at the bottom end of the tomatoes, blanch for 30 seconds to a minute or until you see the skin start to peel off. Place the tomatoes in the bowl of cold water. Peel off the skin, cut into small cubes and set aside.

Mince the shallots. Oil a large pan and add the shallots. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, tomatoes, paprika, ras el hanout, salt and agave syrup and cook on medium heat for 45 minutes, or until reduced to a thick sauce. Stir occasionally, especially in the last 15 minutes.