Sally Schneider´s Magic Peppers

I was going to write a long(ish) post about food for toddlers, but I´ve just found out that it´s the custom here to take a cake to nursery on your birthday. In my day in Spain we used to take a bag of sweets, and take care to give the aniseed ones to the mean girls. 

Lord knows what they do now, but in the meantime, I have to go and make a tray of cupcakes for a gaggle of two-year-olds to crush underfoot, so I´ll leave you with a quick recipe, Sally Schneider´s Magic Peppers.

That´s her name for them, and while she may be exaggerating a little, she´s on to something. These are not your usual sort of red peppers slowly roasted into slippery submission. 

Instead, they are cut into four, lengthwise (Spanish readers, cut them into eight; guiri peppers are small), brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with herbs and salt,and a bit of sugar too, for good measure, and blasted for half an hour in a very hot oven, to emerge caramelized, chewy and irresistible. The recipe is nothing much, but the result is well worth the effort. You´ll notice that it´s light, quick, and pretty. I made five peppers for a side dish yesterday, thinking to have about half left over to do something with, a la Sally in her improvisational way, but J and I polished them all off within seconds.