Years ago, when we first moved to the DC Metro area we frequented a restaurant called Pines of Italy in Arlington, Virginia. I almost always ordered the Red Peppers & Anchovies and white pizza. We’d almost always also order their fried calamari. It was always a treat to go to Pines, but I wanted to know how to make some of their menu items.
When I visited my friend Marie’s mom in Rhode Island, I asked if she knew how to make that salad, her being Italian American and all. She did. Here is her recipe, edited a bit for our tastes.
- 2 sweet peppers (red, orange or yellow)
- 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 5 – 8 Fresh basil leaves
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic or red wine vinegar
- 1 can anchovies if desired
Roast peppers via your preferred method. We usually use our grill, roasting the peppers on medium heat until charred. You can also roast them in your oven on a high heat, or broil them 4″ from the heat or even place them on your gas burners and remember to turn them when they start getting charred (note, this method is messy and leaves your house smelling like a fire).
Then, after they’ve had a chance to cool down, slide the charred skin off. You’re left with the tender and limp meat of the pepper. Don’t forget to remove the core and seeds.
Cut the roasted peppers in strips, the long way.
Mix olive oil and vinegar. We usually use balsamic, but if you prefer a less intense salad, use red wine.
Slice the cloves of garlic into very thin strips, then sliver them by cutting the strips into, well, slivers.
Take your basil leaves, stack them in a pile, and roll them up. Kind of like rolled cigarettes were once made, then slice the roll to shred the basil. This is called chiffonade, by the way. (I had to look that up when I heard the word for the first time).
Now get a pretty dish that will hold the peppers and place the peppers on them. Any juice that is left over from roasting is fine. Now sprinkle the garlic slivers over the peppers and pour the olive oil over everything. Finally toss the basil on the mixture. Feel free to sprinkle with salt and pepper if you want.
If you like anchovies (I do) add a can of anchovies (rinsed if you want) to the mixture before the basil.
This should marinate for at least a few hours or overnight. If you don’t use anchovies, you can leave it out of the fridge if you want, but I always refrigerate it.
