Monday, June 28, 2010

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 . . .

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks to you and your aunt olga i still make them like this too...in fact just last week i made them.....mmmmmmm...mmmmmmm...good!!!!

April said...

Looks messy. Great idea though. I like that first picture. Great color.

Suzy said...

Oh wow, this makes me wish I had a gas stove to try this. I'll bet they're super yummy! mmmm

Barb said...

Very unique. I have never seen it done that way. I guess I'm out of luck since I have an electric stove. Maybe I will try the grill.

Joanne said...

these look heavenly! i will have to try this on the grill. I have an electric stove :(

Reds said...

Wish I had a gas grill!! Great way to do the roast peppers!

Kelly said...

I would never have thought to cook them on a gas stove. Wow how unique..

Bobbi said...

Hey I have a gas stove...and I like roasted peppers! I am going to have to try this one out.

Alycia Nichols said...

Welcome back! I WISH we had a gas stove! Don't think the roasted red peppers would work out on my electric one! I'm trying my hand at growing red peppers for the first time.