This smoky relish works well with pap, eggs or braai meat.
Breakfast sandwiches with red pepper relish
Makes 2 cups relish/ Serves 4
Ingredients
For the relish
4 red peppers, charred and skinned
Glug olive or canola oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup sugar
2 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes
3 Tbsp chutney
Salt and milled pepper
For the sandwiches
8 thick-cut bread slices
Butter, for spreading
300g mozzarella
30g rocket
8 eggs, fried or poached
Method
- Char the peppers over an open gas hob flame, turning regularly using steel tongs to ensure even char, until blackened all over. (You can also grill the peppers on high if you don’t have a gas stove.)
- Remove and place in a large bowl, then cover with clingfilm, allowing pepper to sweat. (This process will loosen skins, making it easy to peel.)
- After 15 minutes, uncover and brush away all the black skins off the peppers using your fingers. (You can even rinse the pepper briefly under water to get rid of any tiny black flecks.)
- Slice peppers open, discard stem and seeds. Slice into strips.
- Heat a glug of oil in a pot over medium heat.
- Fry garlic for a minute until golden, but not brown. Add remaining relish ingredients, stir to combine and leave to simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid has reduced to a thick, sticky sauce. Cool and store in the fridge until using, for up to three weeks.
- To make sandwiches, butter 8 slices of bread on both sides. Fry in a hot pan until golden.
- Place a handful of grated cheese on 4 of the slices, return to pan and cover to allow the cheese to melt.
- Spoon 1 cup relish on remaining 4 toasted slices, then top with rocket and eggs. Season.
- Sandwich closed with cheesy bread and serve immediately.
Listen up
When charring your peppers, popping is the sound of success! It’s the liquid in the pepper that builds up steam then pops open fibres when hot enough. Once the popping quiets down, turn slightly to ensure flame makes contact all over the pepper.
Recipes & Styling: Liezl Vermeulen
Photography: Zhann Solomons
Also read: Croissant breakfast casserole
