This week’s pepper-tomato recipe combines roasted peppers with raw tomatoes.  The thin-skinned frying peppers get roasted with olive oil and garlic.  The salty ingredients (ricotta, olives and optional anchovies) help balance out the sweetness of the vegetables and accentuate their other flavors.

Remove the seeds and core from 4-6 sweet peppers.  Slice them lengthwise quarters or sixths.

Cut the stems off 1 C. of shishito peppers but leave them whole.

Toss the peppers in a bowl with 1 T. olive oil, 1/2 t. salt, 1 T. fresh or 1 t. dried herbs (rosemary, oregano, marjoram, etc.) and 6 chopped anchovy fillets (optional). Spread out on a baking sheet.

Roast the peppers at 400 degrees until they are tender, then add 3 minced cloves of garlic.  Roast another five minutes.

While the peppers are roasting, core and dice 2-3 tomatoes.  Place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cook for 2-3 minutes, then deglaze it with 2 T. red wine vinegar.

Drizzle 1 T. olive oil over the tomatoes and toss, then add the peppers and vinegar along with 1/3 C. ricot