Red Pepper Salsa (Bell Pepper Salsa)

You can't go wrong with a red pepper salsa (bell pepper salsa) as tasty as this one. It is perfect to serve as a dip with toasted pitta bread and it would also fit in very well as part of a mezze-style meal.

Or brush toasted slices of sourdough bread with a little olive oil and top with some goat’s cheese or feta cheese and a dollop of the salsa. Swap the cheese for slices of stir-fried chicken and add a dollop of yogurt along with the salsa.

It will definitely liven up a soup - I add a dollop to my Carrot and Watercress Soup and it would do equally well together with my Lentil and Carrot Soup.

It will add pizzazz to oven-roasted vegetables and many other dishes as well.

I buy the pointed variety of peppers (bell peppers) as I find that they are usually much tastier than normal peppers (which can be frightfully bland in taste).

This red pepper salsa is also quite healthy with only a one teaspoon of honey added to it. Peppers are obviously healthiest eaten raw and as I love them so much, I eat raw ones on a daily basis.

For the red pepper salsa:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium-sized red onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

A good pinch of chilli flakes

3 red peppers (bell peppers), deseeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

200ml, 7floz, 0.9 cup water

Salt and pepper

1.    Place the olive oil in a pot over a low heat and add the chopped red onion and garlic to the pan. Stir and cook for 5 minutes – taking care that the onion and garlic don’t burn – until the onion starts to soften.

2.    Add the ground cumin, chilli flakes and chopped red pepper (bell pepper) to the pan and continue to cook for a further couple of minutes. Add the tomato puree, honey, red wine vinegar and water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, stir and bring to a simmer.

3.    Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes – until most of the liquid has evaporated and the salsa has become syrupy.

It will easily keep in the fridge for a good five days, if covered properly. I haven’t tried to freeze it myself – there has been nothing left to freeze – but I do think you could freeze it as well.