February 26, 2024

Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted Red Peppers is a great tasting side dish capturing the fantastic sweetness of the beautiful ripe bell pepper.

The flavours are concentrated in the roasting process

Roasting concentrates the flavours which are then accentuated by their seasoning.

They’re brilliant as part of a mezze

As I said, roasted red peppers are brilliant in their own right as a side dish or as part of a mezze. But they have so many other uses.

Roasted Red Pepper is great as an extra in a sandwich

They are really good as an extra in a sandwich or on a pizza.

An added bonus in salads

Salads can be given an extra dimension when they are added. They are especially good in warm aubergine salad.

Blitz your roasted red pepper and add them to hummus

Try blitzing them and adding them to hummus or cream cheese – delicious!

Throw them into frittata

Frittata and Shakshuka both benefit from having Roasted Red Pepper thrown into the mix.

Wonderful pasta sauce in minutes

Roasted Red Peppers can make wonderful pasta sauce, in minutes.

More interesting beef stew

Beef stew can take on a completely different look when roasted red peppers are added. It becomes far much more interesting, one example of this is Beef Stew with Red Peppers and Cannelini Beans

Some sauces would be lost with Roasted Red Peppers

For example, they’re an essential ingredient in Harissa Paste.

Muhammara is my favourite – Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip

My personal favourite use for them has to be Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip with pomegranate molasses – Muhammara. I just can’t say how good it is. A real crowd pleaser.

So, let’s have a look at how Roasted Red Peppers are prepared

Ingredients

5 large red peppers
olive oil
1tsp white vinegar, cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
chilli flakes – optional
10 garlic cloves – peeled and sliced – optional

Preheat the oven to the hottest temperature

Method – Here’s how to do it

First prepare the peppers

Cut the peppers in half – top to bottom. Remove the stems and seeds.

Put them on a baking tray

Place them skin side up on a baking tray.

Rub oil onto their skins

Drizzle a little oil into your hand a rub this over the skins of the peppers. This helps with the charing.

Bake until the skins are charred

Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. By which time the skins should be completely wrinkled, and their skins charred.

Let them sweat

Remove the tray from the oven and immediately cover it tightly with aluminium foil. This allows the peppers to sweat a little and makes removing the skins very easy.

Wait until your red peppers are cool

Allow them to cool for about 15 minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle.

Peel away the skins

Peel away the charred and blackened skins.

Cut into strips

Cut the peppers into broad strips.

Season your roasted red peppers well

Season the peppers with salt, freshly ground pepper, chilli flakes, garlic and a splash of white vinegar.

Store in jars and bathe in oil

Put your roasted red peppers into a jar along with any juices that have collected and the teaspoon of vinegar. Pour the olive oil over the peppers to seal them.