Hot and Sweet Pepper Confit - Toast Topper #46

It's definitely a toss-up in our family as to what we love more from the Summer garden - our wide assortment of tomatoes (heirloom to conventional, beefsteak to cherry!) or our equally diverse range of peppers! We have the tongue-searing Thai and Scotch Bonnets for the fire-eaters in the family, middle-range hot cherry and Hungarian wax for the majority of our cooking and the mild sweet cherry and bells for tempering the flames of all the others! A good portion of the medium and mild peppers (especially the "cherry" varieties) are claimed by my stepdad for his Spicy Italian Peppers in Sauce, but when there are more cropping up on the plants than he can handle, I get into the kitchen too.

Personally, I'm a bigger fan of spicy than sweet peppers, especially pickled ones - but for the grilling season it's nice to have something unique to go with the usual fare. Confit is perfect because, unlike pickles, it's not sour (which can conflict with certain marinades) and it is a great addition to not only sandwiches but grain- or potato-based salads, grilled pizza and things like grilled fish. I took the idea of a pepper confit from Martha Stewart, but had to make it my own - not only with the pepper choices but by swapping in a locally-grown onion for the shallots. Rather than relying on a low and slow oil simmer for the "melt-in-your-mouth" texture, this Toast Topper cooks in a luscious Sauvignon Blanc bath, soaking up all that delicious flavour. In fact, the finished confit would be at home at a fancy dinner party, paired with those garden tomatoes on a few pieces of baguette!

Shared with Gluten Free Fridays

Hot and Sweet Pepper Confit
Makes about 1 cup, 8 (2-tbsp) servings
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
8 hot cherry peppers, seeded and diced
4 sweet cherry peppers, seeded and diced
1 small green pepper, seeded and diced
¾ cup off-dry white wine
1 tsp raw sugar
¼ tsp salt
pinch black pepper

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.
2. Add onion and cook 10 minutes, until just beginning to colour.
3. Add all the peppers, wine, sugar, salt, and pepper.
4. Cover, and cook until wine is almost absorbed, about 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Reduce heat to low, uncover and cook, stirring occasionally, until peppers are tender, about 15 minutes.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 58.5
Total Fat: 3.4 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 287.8 mg
Total Carbs: 3.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.2 g
Protein: 0.1 g