Roasting a few Romano (pointy) red peppers and tomato halves is always useful fridge food and if you are doing it, why not add a couple of un-skinned, quartered red onions? They are useful too, even if just as a quick start to one of the many recipes that begin with onion. The combo could become a lazy but gorgeously gooey peperonata. I topped it with petits pois for its vibrant look and sweet, grassy flavour, delicious with lamb kebabs. It would be lovely too, with soft-poached eggs or white cheese and a scattering of capers or black olives. This recipe, though, came about when I was fooled into thinking that the lovely bright sunny weather meant I’d be able to fire up the barbecue for supper. Wrong. By 5pm the day had turned back into winter so I cooked my kebabs on the griddle. No problem except that the fat splatters all over the hob and forces an extra hob clean I could have done without.
Serves 2
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
260g lamb neck fillet
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
few sprigs thyme
2 garlic cloves
2 Romano red peppers
3 tomatoes
2 red onions
200g frozen petits pois
Turn the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Cut the lamb into kebab-size pieces. Squeeze the lemon into a mixing bowl and whisk in 2 tbsp olive oil. Add thyme and crushed garlic cloves. Add the meat and mix thoroughly – hands are best for this. Chill covered with a stretch of clingfilm or tip into a zippered plastic bag. Leave to marinate while you cook peppers, tomatoes and onions. Lay the peppers on a foil-lined, shallow roasting tin. Halve the tomatoes round their middles and quarter unpeeled onions and place both on the tray too, the onions around the edges. Roast for 15 minutes, turn the peppers and return for a further 15 minutes until the skin is puffy. You want the onions very soft and the tomatoes squishy, so cook a bit longer if necessary. Place the peppers on a plate, cover with a stretch of clingfilm and leave for 15 minutes or so, rip off the skin, halve lengthways, wipe away the seeds and cut or tear into pieces. Discard the onion skin. If you like, I do, remove the tomato skin; in both cases, allow the veg to cool first. Slice the onion. Thread the lamb on kebab sticks. Heat a griddle over a medium high heat and when very hot, lay out the kebabs, cooking for a couple of minutes a side until crusty (do not fiddle, trying to move them; they must form a crust/seal, otherwise they’ll stick and tear), ensuring they are cooked through. Cook the peas until tender. Mix together the peperonata ingredients and serve warm, cold or heated through (which is what I did) just before serving. Serve peperonata topped with peas the kebabs alongside.