BASIC ROASTED RED PEPPERS

Many peppers flourish in the cooler weather of late summer and early autumn. Roasting peppers is a great way to use up extras (Remember to freeze some, too, for use in cooking over the winter. Wash, chop or slice, put in freezer bags, squeeze out the air and pop in the freezer. You're done!) 


This recipe is the most basic one I have made and probably my favorite. The secret to this one is roasting your own fresh red peppers. The following instructions on roasting peppers can be done for a large batch, so you can tailor yours to meet your needs. And you can use this to roast almost any kind of pepper. The method works best for "meaty" types of peppers.

BASIC ROASTED RED PEPPERS 

Several large red bell peppers (you can use any color from green to orange or yellow)
Brown paper bag

Preheat broiler or grill. Cook the whole peppers over high heat until they have blackened spots and blisters and are tender. Place the peppers into a brown paper bag and roll up the top to seal, close to the peppers. Set aside until the peppers cool.

When the peppers are cool, remove the skins. Slice the peppers open and scrape out the cores and seeds. Rinse under water quickly and dry well with paper towels. Cut into strips or halves.

If you want to save time, do a large batch of 6-8 peppers and pack them in olive oil. 

To preserve them you will need:
1 tsp sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

In a clean jar, combine salt, olive oil, garlic and parsley. Add peppers and store in refrigerator for up to three weeks.

You can also do this with other types of peppers, but if they are small and thin skinned they are harder to work with.


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