Roasted Red Peppers

Tía Olga, my mother's oldest sister, taught me how to roast red peppers in her own unique way. I've tried other methods, but I keep going back to this one.

Start out with beautifully ripe, smooth red peppers . . .

Place them directly on the gas burners of your stove . . .

Use tongs to turn them every which way until the skin is uniformly burned on all sides . . .

This one is beginning to burn . . .

Oh, yes . . . You may need to disconnect your smoke detector . . .

By now the kitchen should be smelling heavenly. No kidding. The sweet pepper smell is wonderful . . .

Hmmm . . . I think this one is done . . .

Drop them in the sink with cold running water and start peeling them . . .

The skin comes right off . . . use your nail to scrape any little bit that gets stuck . . .

I drop them in the dish drainer as I finish peeling them . . .

A bit messy on the stove but so worth it . . .

Cut the tops off, remove the seeds and any hard ridges on the inside . . .

Cut into strips . . .

Place them in a glass or Corningware container. I don't like storing them in plastic . . .

Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. That's it.

For a superb appetizer, very briefly sautée them in fresh crushed garlic and olive oil, long enough to heat the peppers and infuse them with the garlic. Serve with a crusty French bread.

I've tried roasting peppers on the grill and in the oven, but, in my opinion, this method yields the most flavorful peppers. Another of the simple little pleasures of summer . . .