I apologize in advance because this is a recipe of approximates- the roasted red peppers are a food I’ve been eating all my life and are a staple in Yugoslav cuisine; we have never had exact measurements for this recipe. For the crostini, I like to use a substantial bread like a French baguette or Italian loaf (I used Trader Joe’s sliced Italian loaf for these in the photo but will use any hardy bread that is handy). If you can’t find buffalo mozzarella (I buy mine at Costco), you can use regular fresh mozzarella.
For the roasted peppers:
red peppers (however many you want to make)
plain white vinegar
chopped garlic- lots of it
extra-virgin olive oil
First you roast the red peppers over the grill until they are charred everywhere. Put them in a glass bowl and cover them with a plate or foil and let them steam until they are cool enough to handle- this can be as little as 30 minutes if you have tough fingertips from perpetual kitchen burns like I do… Peel them (without rinsing) and put them in a glass dish. Then you’ll want to douse them in olive oil (plenty of it- you want to get a marinade thing going here) and add some vinegar (if I had to hazard a guess, I would say maybe 1/4 cup for 4 or 5 roasted peppers). Put the chopped garlic on there too and if you feel inclined, you can add some chopped parsley. Season generously with salt. Stir this all up gently and let it all marinade for at least several hours but preferably overnight. Then taste it to see if it’s salty and vinegary enough and make adjustments as necessary. These will last a while in the fridge so I recommend making plenty.
For the crostini:
sliced bread
buffalo mozzarella
capers, drained (and rinsed if using salt packed)
Maldon sea salt
Brush the slices of bread with extra-virgin olive oil and grill carefully on both sides until crisp (or use a panini maker to grill the bread). Lay a slice of buffalo mozzarella on top of the bread and top that with a piece of roasted red pepper. Sprinkle with capers and drizzle lightly with EVOO. Give a fairy dusting of Maldon sea salt and voila- you’ve got a gorgeous starter!