Strawberries and tomatoes share many flavour compounds including what is known as the strawberry furanone. To my mind they each hit slightly different notes of sweetness combined with acidity. Balsamic vinegar works well with both and the mellow sweetness of silky roasted peppers softens their sharp edges. Crumbled feta to finish adds a delicious salty tang to this dish. This recipe serves 2 to 3 depending on the ratio of sauce to pasta you prefer.
Ingredients (serves 2 to 3)
2 x Romano peppers or red bell peppers
240g baby tomatoes
200g strawberries
Balsamic vinegar to drizzle
2 tbsp medium sherry
1 tbsp Aleppo chilli flakes
Salt to taste
75g linguine per person
Feta, olive oil and fresh oregano leaves for the topping
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C.
- Halve the peppers and remove the seeds. Cut the peppers into wide strips, flatten and place skin side up on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half and remove leaves from the strawberries. If the strawberries are very large, cut them in half too.
- Add the tomatoes and strawberries to the baking sheet and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Bake (alongside the peppers) for 10 minutes.
- Place the peppers in a bowl. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes by which time you should be able to peel the skin off quite easily.
- Cook the linguine in boiling salted water for approximately 15 mins or to your liking.
- Place the peppers, strawberries and tomatoes in a frying pan and add the sherry and chilli flakes. Heat gently being careful not to break up the individual ingredients. Add salt to taste.
- Drain the pasta and add to the pan together with a little pasta water. Mix gently.
- To serve, crumble feta over the top, sprinkle with oregano leaves and add drizzle of olive oil.
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just kidding. Of course it is.