Roasted Pepper Rolls Stuffed with Tuna

Name: Roasted Pepper Rolls Stuffed with Tuna
Yield: makes about 15 small rolls, serving 6 as an hors d¿oeuvre
Ingredients: 3 or 4 sweet red or assorted-color peppers (about 1 1/2 pounds total); 1/3 cup or so extra-virgin olive oil; 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt, or to taste; Two 6-ounce cans tuna packed in olive oil (preferably imported from Italy); 2 small anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped; 2 tablespoons small capers, drained and finely chopped; 1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar; 1 tablespoon prepared mustard; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

December 14, 2011

Antipasti are, for me, the best part of a Piedmontese meal. At any family gathering (and in restaurants as well), the platters of different antipasti just never stop coming. And at some point in the procession, roasted peppers stuffed with tuna will arrive at the table. The combination of sweet, meaty peppers and well-seasoned oil-cured tuna is always delightful. In Piemonte, cooks are discriminating about the peppers they roast, and most sought are those from Carmagnola, a town in the countryside south of Torino. Carmagnola peppers are justly famous, for wonderful flavor as well as their vivid colors and distinctive shapes, like the corno di bue (ox horn) and trottola (spinning top). Carmagnola also is well known for il coniglio grigio di Carmagnola—the gray rabbit from Carmagnola—considered to be one of the best in Italy. Here in the States, any fresh, meaty sweet bell-type peppers are suitable—different colors make a nice presentation. And peppers are always best roasted and peeled at home, though a jar of roasted red peppers can be substituted if you are short on time. (If you have no peppers at all, this tuna filling is delicious on crostini or crackers—it makes a world-class tuna-fish sandwich too.)

Recipe notes