Baked Zucchini and Peppers (Sardinia)

Appetizers

Ingredients

Zucchini - 6

Salt 

Sweet yellow peppers - 2

Olive oil

Garlic, lightly crushed - 1 clove

Ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped - 6 large

Basil - 4-5 leaves

Fresh soft cheese  -12 slices

Anchovy fillets - 6

Wash the zucchini and slice off both ends. Drop them into boiling salted water, and parboil them for 5 minutes. Drain and cut into halves lengthwise.

Broil the peppers until their skins are blackened and blistered. Let them cool, then scrape off their thin outer skins or rub them off under running cold water. Sliced the peppers in halves, discarding cores and seeds, and cut them into strips, 6 strips to each pepper.

Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a pan; add the garlic clove, fry it until it beings to brown and discard it. Add the tomatoes, sprinkle with salt to taste, and cook over a brisk heat for 15 minutes. After 10 minutes cooking add the basil.

Arrange the zucchini, cut side up, in one layer in a shallow baking dish. On each half put about 1 tbsp of the tomato sauce, a strip of pepper, a slice of cheese and half the anchovy fillet. Pour a 1/2 cup olive oil over the whole dish and bake in a moderate oven (360F) for several minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Serve hot or cold.

Serves 6