Sicilian Peppers Raisins And Pine Nuts Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add celery and cook uncovered until softened, about 1 minute. Drain in a colander and immediately immerse in ice water for several minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain.
• Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat; add onion and celery and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add eggplant, red bell peppers, and zucchini and cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato puree, vinegar, and sugar. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add olives, raisins, pine nuts, and capers. Season with salt and pepper and cook until flavors are well combined, about 5 minutes.
• Remove skillet from heat; stir in chopped basil. Cool and serve at room temperature.

Steps:

• Pour the olive oil into a large heavybased saucepan or casserole, place over a medium heat and add the aubergines. Cook for a good 15-20 mins until they are soft. Scoop the aubergines out of the pan - you should be left with some olive oil. Add the shallots and cook for about 5 mins until they are soft and translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook slowly, so they break down and turn to a soft mush, then add the aubergines back to the pan. Now put in the capers, raisins, celery and vinegar, season well and cover with a lid. Cook over a low heat for 40 mins, until all the vegetables are soft. Stir gently so it doesn't break up too much; the stew should smell sweet and sour.
• When the caponata is cooked, leave to cool slightly while you make the bruschetta. Heat a griddle pan, drizzle the bread with olive oil and griddle until toasted and lightly charred on both sides, then rub with a garlic clove and season. Serve the warm caponata scattered with the basil leaves and pine nuts, with bruschetta on the side.

Steps:

• Rinse the spinach well and remove the stems. Place in a large sauté pan with only the rinsing water clinging to the leaves. Cook over medium heat, turning as needed until wilted, just a few minutes. Drain well and set aside. Add the olive oil to the now-empty pan and place over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the spinach, raisins, and pine nuts and sauté briefly to warm through. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Use a sharp knife to cut out the central rib and stem from each collard leaf. Rinse the leaves in a sink of cool water, lifting them into a colander to drain a bit (you want some water to remain on the leaves).
• Toast the pine nuts over medium heat in a dry skillet for about 5 minutes or until golden.
• Shake the pan often to keep the pine nuts from burning. Transfer to a plate, and set aside.
• Place the garlic and oil in a large skillet, and saute over medium heat for 1 minute or until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add the damp collards and stir, then cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes longer.
• Add the raisins and pine nuts, and stir. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
• Stir in the balsamic vinegar, cover, and continue to cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash peppers. Slice off tops with about 1/4" pepper flesh remaining on top. Pull out seeds. Rinse pepper interior with vinegar passing vinegar to consecutive peppers. Set asside in bowl. Prepare the stuffing. Add olive oil and garlic to cool pan. Sautee for 30 sec. and add bread crumbs. Toast breadcrumbs in pan stirring often as not to burn. Add pine nuts to warm through and toast slightly. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients reserving about 1/2 of the vinegar. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Stuff peppers individuallyu and place in well oiled 8x8 pan. Place the top on each pepper as a cover. Season and pour remaining vinegar over peppers. Cover peppers with foil and bake for 45 minutes until peppers are steamed through. Remove cover and drizzle additional olive oil over peppers. Turn heat to 450 and bake for and additional 15 minutes until peppers are slightly caramalized. Cool and serve room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack at about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the peppers in half from top to bottom; remove the stem, seeds, and ribs, then place the peppers cut sides down onto the prepared baking sheet. Cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, about 10 minutes. Place the blackened peppers into a bowl, and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 20 minutes. Once cool, remove the skins and discard.
• Toast the pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, swirling the pine nuts in the skillet until they turn a light tan color and have a nutty fragrance, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl to prevent them from overcooking.
• Slice the roasted peppers into strips, and arrange decoratively onto a serving platter, alternating red and yellow strips. Sprinkle the peppers with toasted pine nuts, raisins, garlic, and parsley, drizzle with olive oil, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.