Mini–Sweet Pepper Treats

Over the last few years, my market has been featuring small sweet bell peppers that are quite delicate—great for hors d’oeuvres or garnishes. Similar to Padrón peppers from Spain but sweeter, they can be cooked the same way as those peppers: sautéed in hot olive oil for 2 to 3 minutes, until browned all around and tender, then served with a sprinkling of coarse salt on top. They make a great accompaniment to grilled meat or poultry.

For this recipe, we halved the mini peppers lengthwise, removed the seeds, and garnished them with different fillings. Shorey likes cheese, shrimp, anchovies, and garlic, but you can use your inspiration to create new fillings, from scallops to olives to tomatoes to zucchini. Or just use one of our fillings for all of the peppers, increasing the amounts as needed.

The tiny peppers may be yellow or orange, but when they are cooked, they turn the same orange/yellow color. These make wonderful hors d’oeuvres for a cocktail party.

Makes 18 hors d’oeuvres

• 9 mini sweet bell peppers, halved and seeded
• filling #1
• 6 anchovy fillets, with 1½ teaspoons of their oil
• 1 large garlic clove, sliced into 12 slivers with a vegetable peeler or a knife
• 3 small cherry tomatoes, halved
• filling #2
• 2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small dice or shredded
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped pickled jalapeño peppers, or a few drops of Tabasco sauce
• filling #3
• 3 large shrimp, cooked, peeled, and coarsely chopped (about ½ cup)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

At serving time, heat the oven to 350 degrees.

For Filling #1, place 1 anchovy fillet in each of 6 pepper halves and cover with 2 garlic slivers and half a tomato. Drizzle ¼ teaspoon of the oil from the anchovies over each pepper.

For Filling #2, fill 6 pepper halves with the cheese and top with the jalapeños or Tabasco.

For Filling #3, mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and divide among the remaining 6 pepper halves.

Arrange all the pepper halves in a gratin dish in a single layer. Sprinkle the olive oil on top. Bake for 20 minutes, until the peppers are bubbling and cooked. Let cool to warm before serving.

“If I could have a meal with any group of people, I would invite Malala Yousafzai, Taylor Swift, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein (it’s all relative!), and Barack Obama.”

—Shorey