While you live in Maastricht, you must visit our local market. You can go there on Wednesdays and Fridays, but we prefer the Friday market. For early birds: you can go there as early as 7 o’clock, because then the merchants start building the stalls.
One of my favourite market stalls is that of the vegetable merchant, who calls himself ‘the Bananenboxer’. His merchants shout at the top of their voice, trying to impress their clients. There, you can buy your vegetables at sharp and usually more or less fixed prices. Eat your veggies on the day of the purchase. The quality is up to standard but they won’t last very long.
They sell good quality peppers and also their aubergines and courgettes are worthwhile. For this week’s very easy recipe, the pepper relish, you can buy bags of red, orange or yellow peppers, whichever you prefer. Don’t pick the green ones; they’re not suitable for this recipe. They tend to taste bitter and that is not what we want for this relish. Serve the relish warm as an easy vegetarian pasta sauce or cold to accompany lunch.
Friday’s market Pepper Relish
1 kilo pepper s (red, orange or yellow)
3 tbsp olive oil
chili powder (about 2 teaspoons but if you like it more spicy, you can add some extra)
10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of canned tomato puree
salt and freshly ground black pepper
You will also need a lidded frying pan with a 10 inch (25.5 cm) diameter.
Cut the peppers in half and deseed them. Then cut the halves in slices/stripes of half a centimetre.
Put the oil in your pan and heat it. Add the peppers and stir them over a medium high fire. Add the cloves of garlic. Be careful not to put the garlic in first because it will burn which makes it taste bitter. Season with the chili powder an turn the heat down. Put the lid on and cook for about 40-45 minutes. Make sure to stir from time to time. The relish is done when the peppers are soft.