This is so simple and easy that now that I’m telling you about it, you no longer have any excuse to buy roasted peppers in a jar. Sorry.
My red pepper roasting idea was born, as so many kitchen inventions are, of desperation. After neglecting two red peppers in the crisper drawer for almost a week, I realized that I had to do something with them quickly before they went bad and I officially became a Food Waster. I hate wasting food, and especially with two living compost heaps (read: bunnies) living at my house, I almost never have to waste vegetables.
Combining strategies found in my Joy of Cooking book, as well as across the Internet, I set out to roast the hell out of some red peppers. How easy is it, you ask? Really easy. There are about five steps, and I will lay them out for you now. I was working with two peppers here, but you could do it with more or less and the method would still be the same.
The method:
- Start off by firing up your oven’s broiler.
- Get rid of the stem and core/seeds and slice the peppers into approximately 2-inch wide slices (exact size is not important).
- Brush olive oil on both sides and place each slice on a baking sheet. Stick it in the oven.
- Wait until the first side up is blistering/blackening, then turn to the other side until that side does the same.
- Place the hot slices into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil. The heat and moisture of the trapped air will make the pepper skins easier to peel.
- Once they’ve cooled (maybe 15-20 minutes), take each pepper slice and peel off the skin. You may have to use a knife to get you started, but most of mine came off easily. This is slightly messy, but it’s a vegetable, so all you’re getting on your hands is delicious pepper juice.
DONE.
If now you’re wondering what to do with these delicious little peppers, I’d recommend what I did: make a yummy salad. I just mixed the peppers with a small amount of warm goat cheese, basil, oil, and vinegar and then served the mixture over a little bed of mixed greens. Oh, and salt and pepper. Delicious, and it seems like a lot more work than it really is. Which is every cook’s dream, isn’t it?
Photo: Getty
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Inspired
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Smart
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Tickled
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Hungry
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Empathetic
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Smash!
Miss Shirley, I am lazier still, because I don’t bother with oil.
I usually freeze them separately on a sheet of freezer paper before I toss them into a freezer bag. Then you can pull them out as needed.
Ooh, freezing is clever! I’d somehow never thought of it.
I am a fan of roasted red peppers combined with chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and a bit o water in the food processor. The result is the best hummus ever. And approximately $3 less than a container of Sabre roasted red pepper hummus.
I go even lazier:
1- turn on broiler.
2- rub peppers all over with some olive oil, drop onto cookie sheet.
3- pop them under the broiler until they blister/blacken, turn them over (use tongs or something, don’t burn your fingers), repeat, until all the sides have gotten nice and blistery.
4- dump them into a bowl, cover, abandon until cool.
5- pull the stems out (don’t even need a knife!) and slide the skins off.
6- revel in your roasting glory.
Store any leftovers in the fridge in a tightly closed container filled with oil, or water, or oil+water. They’re usually good for a week or two.
Dang I didn’t think this could be any easier, but I think you did it! Awesome.
Peppers are so weird for me. I cannot STAND them raw, in any color, but I love them roasted. Of course, I’m lazy and scared of my oven, so I haven’t tried roasting them myself. Yet.
I mostly feel like that about tomatoes. Dried, roasted, in a sauce? Straight in my face. Fresh? Euuggh.