This is a wonderfully flavourful dish with a super-Mediterranean character, rich in aromas and not at all daunting to prepare — roasting the peppers whole in the oven could not be more straightforward.

Ingredients for bruschetta with roasted peppers, serves 4

2 medium red and yellow peppers
approximately 100 g squacquerone cheese
4 slices of bread (semi-wholemeal olive bread)
4 anchovy fillets in oil
fresh herbs (basil, parsley, thyme)
1 clove of garlic
extra virgin olive oil
salt

bruschettona con peperoni — The colourful ingredients for bruschetta with roasted peppers © Beatrice Spagoni

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Meanwhile, wash the peppers, dry them, place them whole on a sheet of baking paper and put them in the oven. Leave them to cook for approximately 30–40 minutes. While they cook, wash and dry the fresh herbs then chop them together with the garlic. When the skin of the peppers starts to char and the peppers soften, beginning to "deflate", remove them from the oven, taking care with the steam inside them and the hot cooking juices within.

Bruschetta con peperoni — The roasted pepper ready to be peeled © Beatrice Spagoni

Leave them to cool slightly, then remove the skin and the stalk and seeds, keeping the cooking juices, and cut them into strips. Place the roasted peppers in a deep dish and dress them with their cooking juices, a pinch of salt, olive oil and the chopped herb mixture, then leave them to absorb the flavours for approximately 30 minutes (or longer). Heat a griddle pan or non-stick frying pan and, once very hot, toast the slices of bread on it. Top each slice of toasted bread with a little roasted pepper, a spoonful of squacquerone and an anchovy fillet, drizzle with the pepper dressing and finish with a few leaves of basil. Serve immediately.

The recipe for bruschetta with roasted peppers, squacquerone and anchovies