Nigel Slater’s midweek dinner: roast peppers, burrata, chillies

For 2. Ready in 45 minutes.

For two, you will need 1 large ripe red pepper (or two small) per person. Heat an overhead (oven) grill.

Place the whole peppers on a grill pan, then place them under the heated grill and leave for about 10 minutes, watching carefully, until the skin is dark brown in patches.

Turn them and continue cooking until they start to soften and brown.

Remove from the heat, drop them into a ziplock plastic bag and seal it. (This will help when removing the skins.)

Once the peppers have cooled a little, remove them from the bag and peel the skins from the flesh. Divide the peeled peppers between two plates.

Finely chop 2 small red chillies and 6 chives and mix them together. Finely grate 1 tsp of lemon zest and mix with the chives and chilli. Stir in 3 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of sherry vinegar and season with sea salt and black pepper.

Top each portion with a small burrata and split open with a spoon, letting the soft centre of the cheese ooze out over the peppers.

Divide the chilli-chive seasoning between them, scattering it over the surface of the burrata. Eat the peppers with crusty bread.

• To use bottled peppers, drain 2 large preserved red peppers per person and use in place of fresh ones.

• I like to serve this dish with a very simple rocket salad – toss together a couple of handfuls of wild rocket per person with olive oil, sea salt and a splash of sherry vinegar.

Photograph by Jonathan Lovekin