Romano pepper schnitzels

Name: Romano pepper schnitzels
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 8 red Romano peppers (850g); Salt, flaked sea salt and black pepper; 100g plain flour; 4 eggs, beaten; 100g panko breadcrumbs; 60g sesame seeds, white and/or black; 16 fresh makrut lime leaves, stalks discarded and leaves finely chopped; 1 tbsp nori sprinkles (or blitz a sheet of nori in a spice grinder and use 1 tbsp); 600ml sunflower oil, for deep-frying; 2 limes: finely grate the zest to get 2 tsp, then cut into wedges to serve; For the Marie Rose sauce; 1 whole head of garlic, top fifth cut off to expose the cloves; Salt and black pepper; 180g cherry tomatoes; 4 large red chillies (75g); 1 tbsp maple syrup; 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce; ½ tsp chipotle flakes; 60g mayonnaise

6 steps

The sauce is a take on the classic Marie Rose but turbocharged. It’s also great in sandwiches and will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 13:18:48 GMT

Ingredients

4 servings

Instructions

Step 1

Heat the oven to 250C (230C fan)/480F/gas 9½. To make the sauce, sprinkle the garlic with salt and pepper, wrap in foil and place on a parchment-lined baking tray with the tomatoes and chillies. Roast for 30 minutes, until they begin to blacken and blister. Remove from oven and, when cool, squeeze the garlic into the small bowl of a food processor, discarding the skins. Add the chillies (deseeded for less heat), tomatoes, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, chipotle flakes and a quarter-teaspoon of salt; blitz to a coarse paste. Leave to cool, then mix in the mayonnaise and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

Step 2

Meanwhile, cut a 5cm slit vertically in the base of each pepper, then place on a large parchment-lined baking tray (you can roast them at the same time as the garlic, near the bottom of the oven). Roast for 16 minutes, turning over halfway, until cooked through and beginning to blacken. Transfer to a sieve, cut side down, to drain any liquid, taking care to keep the stalks intact. Once cool, carefully peel away as much skin as possible without puncturing the flesh, then sprinkle with salt and set aside.

Step 3

Prepare three shallow containers long enough to fit the peppers. In the first, mix flour with one teaspoon of flaked salt and plenty of black pepper; put the eggs in the second; in the last mix breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, lime leaves, nori, two teaspoons of flaked salt and a generous grind of pepper.

Step 4

Set a large metal rack over one tray and line another with plenty of kitchen paper. Dip each pepper first into the flour, then the egg and finally the panko mixture, shaking off any excess as you go; lie it on the rack and repeat with the rest of the peppers.

Step 5

Pour the oil into a large, high-sided saute pan or wok on a medium-high heat. Once very hot, fry the peppers two at a time so you don’t overcrowd them. Lower in carefully and fry for one and a half to two minutes on each side, until golden brown and crisp, then transfer to the paper-lined tray.

Step 6

Serve at once, with lime zest and sea salt sprinkled on top, and lime wedges and Marie Rose sauce alongside.