Piedmontese peppers

There are recipe variants for Piedmontese peppers all over the place.  Delia's is top class, as one might expect, and Simon Hopkinson's is great too.  The idea here was to make a recipe that was simple but effective.

Serves 4

4 red peppers
2 x 400g tins whole plum tomatoes
1 tin anchovies packed in olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil

Wash the peppers, halve lengthways then remove all seeds, white pith and stems too (you can leave the stems on but I think they are simpler to eat without).  Place the peppers in a large shallow tray.

Place a colander in a large bowl and empty both tins of tomatoes into it.  Halve each tomato lengthways and nestle two tomato halves in each pepper half.  Spoon a little tomato juice from the bowl into each pepper but save the rest for something else (eg. a bloody mary).

Lay a pair of anchovy fillets onto each pepper in a cross.  Season very well with salt and pepper, pour around 1 tbsp of olive oil on each pepper then roast at 190C for 1 hour or until well done, basting with olive oil from the tray half way through if that might help.

Allow to cool to room temperature to serve.  You can pour a little lemon juice or balsamic vinegar over each one before serving - entirely up to personal taste.