Ajvar

Make one jar

• 4 red bell peppers
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• Chile flakes, to taste

Char the peppers on a gas burner, grill, or under the broiler, turning until they're black all over — the same dry-flame move from July and August. Put them in a covered bowl for fifteen minutes, then peel and seed them. Chop them finely by hand; it should stay rough, not smooth. Warm the oil in a wide pan over medium-low, add the peppers and everything else, and cook, stirring often, for about twenty minutes, until it thickens, darkens, and the oil starts to separate at the edges. Taste: it should be sweet, smoky, and sharp. Spoon it into a jar and pour a thin layer of oil over the top. The idea underneath is the one worth keeping: char, peel, then cook it down slowly until the water is gone and the flavor is concentrated. That's how a vegetable becomes something that keeps.

Keeps about ten days in the refrigerator under a thin layer of olive oil. Use a clean spoon, and top up the oil when you take some out.

Use it this week