Marinated Bell Peppers with Onion and Herbs: Quick Appetizer
It can be hard to explain to a foreigner used to a set order of courses that zakuski, appetizers, aren't always something served before lunch with a glass of aperitif. But marinated bell peppers are an exceptional appetizer in every sense.
For many people, zakuska means exactly what the word says: something to snack on after a drink. I've seen whole lunches and feasts made up of nothing but appetizers. Then again, with that approach to drinking, there's probably no other way.
An appetizer (hors d'œuvre, entrée) is a dish served before the main course. By the way, an appetizer doesn't always come with an aperitif. Often its role is not just to accompany a drink, but to prepare you for the main dish, whether it's a chicken stew or fish meatballs or pepper lecho.
Appetizers can be cold or hot and are made from every kind of food: vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, meat, fish and so on. Among the simple, “old-school” appetizers, the most common are fermented cucumbers, black and red caviar, marinated mushrooms and, of course, herring with green onions. These are the classics, the very top level!
In Ukraine, the appetizer for connoisseurs and people of good morals is salo with garlic. But that takes time. Often you need to make an appetizer quickly before lunch, especially when unexpected guests are at the door.
One way to make a quick appetizer that everyone will love is to bake or fry peppers and stuff them with marinated onion and herbs. Marinated bell peppers with onion and herbs are a quick appetizer, like lecho, that needs no special skills, and the mix of herbs for the filling can vary widely.
More with bell peppers
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2 servings
- Sweet peppers 4
- Sweet onions 1-2
- Mixed herbs (parsley, cilantro, dill) 1 bunch
- Olive oil 2 tbsp
- Garlic 2-3 cloves
- Wine vinegar to taste
- Ground black pepper, salt, sugar to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- When making marinated bell peppers, for purely aesthetic reasons it's best to choose red or dark green peppers, ideally long ones: sweet peppers, the so-called bell or kapia peppers. Wash the peppers and pat them dry. Cut off the stem and shake out all the seeds, trying not to damage the walls of the pepper. You can brush the peppers with a little vegetable oil and bake them well, in the oven or the microwave.
- You also get a good result if you fry the peppers in oil over medium heat until soft, then braise them covered for 5-6 mins.
- The peppers will gradually “settle” and start to brown. Then keep frying them over low heat, turning often, until they are nicely browned.
- While the peppers bake or fry, prepare the filling. Peel a sweet salad onion. A white onion or a sweet Yalta onion works well. In spring or early summer, young onions with already formed bulbs are perfect. Slice the onion into very thin strips: the thinner the slices, the better and, above all, the faster it will marinate. Separate the onion pieces so none stick together, just fluff them up. Put the sliced onion in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, add 0.5 tsp of sugar, mix and leave for 10 mins for the salt and sugar to dissolve.
- Pour 1 tbsp of grape vinegar over the sliced onion. Red or white, it doesn't matter. But it's better not to use distilled vinegar or lemon juice, or the peppers with onion and herbs will taste harsh. Mix the onion again and leave it to marinate. Generally, onion takes quite a while to marinate, so if you need the marinated bell peppers with onion and herbs “urgently”, you can pour a little boiling water over the onion and marinade, then rinse and squeeze it after 10 mins. Still, it's better to marinate the onion the natural way for 1 hour. Then simply squeeze it to remove the excess acid.
- Wash the dill, parsley and cilantro and shake them dry. Pick all the leaves off the sprigs and discard the stems, which are tough and no good for an appetizer. Chop all the fresh herbs, not too finely, and mix them. It's best when the peppers with onion and herbs have distinct pieces of greens.
- Peel the garlic cloves and mince them finely with a knife. Don't crush the garlic or grate it. With a chef's knife and a cutting board you can chop garlic very finely, and it stays almost dry without releasing its juice.
- Combine the prepared onion, garlic and chopped herbs. If you like it spicy, you can add a pinch of coarsely ground dried chili. Mix the onion, garlic and herbs thoroughly.
- If possible, peel the skin off the baked peppers if it comes away. It isn't essential, but the marinated bell peppers taste better without it. Stuff the peppers with the marinated onion and herb mixture. Press the peppers gently to flatten them. Lay the peppers with onion and herbs in a single layer in a ceramic or glass dish.
- Make a spicy dressing to pour over the marinated bell peppers. In a separate bowl, mix 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of grape vinegar. Whisk with a fork: the mixture emulsifies well and thickens slightly. Season with pepper to taste and add a very finely grated garlic clove and a little finely chopped dill.
- Pour the garlic oil dressing over the marinated bell peppers with onion and herbs in the dish.
- Ideally, if you can, let the marinated bell peppers with onion and herbs rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours. That said, the appetizer is delicious eaten right away, as long as it's at least a little chilled rather than at room temperature. Exceptionally good with toasted bread.
| Yield: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 42 kcal per 100 g |
| Prep time: | 30 mins |
| Cook time: | 30 mins |
| Ready in: | 30 mins – 3 h (depending on how much of a hurry you're in) |
| Category: | Snacks and Sauces › Pickles and Preserves |
| Cuisine: | Bulgarian cuisine |
| Rating: |
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4.8
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