Peperonata

This recipe has been submitted by Jose Goumal - so thanks Jose!

1. Cut 3 sticks of celery about 1” pieces. Tenderise these in simmering water- 4 minutes.

2. Heat olive oil ( a good dollop, say 5 tablespoons) in frying pan - medium heat - (largish pan is best although the mixture will reduce considerably ).

3. Add 2 onions quartered (most types work well, I like red, some likes white ,shallots also work), 2 cloves garlic crushed (optional) Fry gently for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Meanwhile, take 2 red peppers, 2 yellow peppers, 2 green peppers , and remove the cores, seeds and white bits.

5. Slice peppers into strips. Add to the pan, cover and cook gently ( 10 minutes)

6. Add the celery .

7.Add 4 tomatoes (cut into quarters) , salt and pepper , keep cooking gently.

8. Add a schlurp of dry white wine – I use Chablis.

9. After 4 minutes add 100g of Italian passata (Waitrose, Tesco & Sainsbury stocks it & probably most supermarkets).

10. Place all into oven proof or pyrex bowl, cover, place in oven at gentle temp ,say 170 for 2 hours.

11. Make sure celery is totally covered by the tomato and oil (otherwise it tends to dry out).

12. Check from time to time that mixture doesn’t dry out.

13. After the two hours, remove from oven, either eat hot or allow to cool and then keep in the fridge ,it lasts for a week and gets better the longer you keep it.

I serve it hot or cold or gently warmed and served as a side dish, on good crusty bread, as a pasta sauce ,on or with your favorite grilled sausages, on top of steak.

It’s great with Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana Sherry (available from Waitrose Wine £10.44 a bottle or £125.28 for 12)

Manzanilla is a salty dry sherry from Sanlucar de Barrameda near Jerez. In Spain it's drunk as you would a wine.