This is hands down my favorite thing to make with a glut of caspiums. I've been making it for over twenty years. It's amazing on broiled feta, or spooned over grilled or roasted meat and vegetables of all types. It’s based on a recipe from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook , which is in my top 5 cookbooks of all time. The original owner Judy Rodgers, sadly passed at a young age but her vibrant cafe, memory, incredible cooking sensibilities and recipes live on.
Ingredients
1 ½ T dried currants
2 tsp. sherry vinegar (or red wine if you don't have sherry)
½ tsp. warm water
12 ounces bell peppers (1 large or two small) You can use jarred ones in a pinch
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil or arugula
2 small garlic, pounded to a paste
3 tablespoons sweet sherry or sweet Marsala
sea Salt
Instructions
1. Combine the dried currants, vinegar, and warm water, kneading the currants lightly.
2. Roasting and peeling the peppers:
To use the oven method, preheat the oven to 450. Set the peppers in a baking dish and place on the top rack of the oven. Turn as the tops brown and blister, and roast until they have nearly collapsed, 20 to 35 minutes, depending on size.
Transfer the roasted peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, slide or rub off the skins – not worrying if some spots don’t want to release (do this over a second bowl, so you can capture some of the delicious juice). Charred skins tend to come off in chunks and bits; dip you fingertips in water occasionally as you remove them. Don’t rinse the peppers.
Still working over the bowl, pull off the stems and seeds. Separate each pepper into slabs. Combine the juice from both bowls and strain out skins and seeds.
Lay the pepper slabs on a cutting board, brush away any remaining seeds, and scrape or peel off any remaining large patches of skin with a paring knife. Again, don’t rinse the peppers, as you would only be washing away the flavorful syrup.
3. Assembling the relish:
Cut the peppers into small dice and combine with their juice. You should get about one cup.
While the peppers are roasting, set the pine nuts in the oven, if using, or in a small skillet over low heat to warm through, a few minutes at most. Coarsely chop.
Add the currants, pine nuts, basil or arugula, garlic, oil and Sherry or Marsala. Salt to taste.
