I haven’t always roasted my own red peppers.  I used to buy them in a jar because I thought it must be difficult to roast them.  Roasting up peppers is so easy and they taste so much better than what comes in a jar.  When you roast peppers yourself they also don’t have all the additives that come with buying food from a jar.  Roasted red peppers are better for you, taste better and are less expensive when roasted at home.  Win-win-win!

What can you make with roasted red peppers? They can be added to pretty much anything.  They’re delicious on a sandwich, great when mixed with goat cheese for a quick appetizer served on crisp toast or added to a favorite pasta dish.  They’re so good for you and they add such vibrant color to an otherwise bland dish.

These are soooo easy to make and since you are charring the outside you basically can’t overcook them.

How to Roast Red Peppers

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 red peppers
• canola oil
• salt and pepper

Cooking instructions

1. Rinse peppers in cold water.
2. Cut in half by placing knife at top of pepper (stem) and slice toward bottom of pepper.
3. Remove green stem and insides from pepper by placing thumb on pepper stem and pulling away.
4. Dry peppers with a cotton towel (the oil will stick better to peppers when they’re completely dry) and place on a baking sheet.
5. Drizzle peppers with canola oil and using a pastry brush, spread over peppers evenly.
6. Sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt, pepper, and any other spices you may like.
7. Place in pre-heated 400 degree oven on upper rack.
8. Bake for 25 minutes or until soft.
9. Broil on high for about 5 minutes until skin is blackened.
10. Remove from oven and let cool in place on baking sheet.
11. Once cooled, remove skin by pulling it apart from pepper.
12. Place in sealed container and keep in refrigerator (will keep for about 1 week).

Just one cut is all you need.  Pull off the top stem and any white parts.  Give the pepper a shake to get out any seeds.  Or leave them in.  Roasting peppers is very forgiving.

I think one of the biggest reasons I like to roast red peppers is because it’s one of the few times your supposed to burn the food you’re cooking!  Clean-up is easy – just fill the bottom of baking sheet with warm water and sprinkle with baking powder.  In an hour or when you get to it, your pan will clean-up easily.  Your red pepper skins can be composted or if you have backyard chickens, see if they like them (ours do).

Most recipes say to remove peppers from the baking sheet and place in a covered baking dish or a paper bag and then let them site and then remove their skins.  I skip those steps because it doesn’t make a bit a difference and you’ve got more to clean-up.  Let them cool on the pan and you’ll be so happy.  Skip those steps – it’s very Go Gingham!

How to Roast Red Peppers in a PDF version.

Related posts:
Spicing it up in the kitchen
Quick and easy roasted garlic spread would be tasty with roasted red peppers blended in or served together.
Looking for more recipes from Go Gingham?  They can be found here.