Roasting and Marinating Red Peppers

The very first time that I ever had home-roasted red peppers, we were at my aunt's house. She had set out a small bowl of them before dinner, with some italian bread. Being famished, we dug into it, and were immediately taken aback. "What are these?", "OMG!", "How did you make these?", were the things I remember uttering between bites. She patiently explained the process, but also gave the disclaimer, "they can be a bit tedious".

Hmmmmmm......tedious and I don't usually get along too well. But these, maybe these would be worth it.

I mean, aside from the fact that red bell peppers made it to the "World's Healthiest Food" listing, they are both delicious and useful in a whole bunch of ways. I'm actually a big fan of raw red pepper slices (especially when dipped into a curried veggie dip). But, I would have to say that my favorite way to eat bell peppers by far, is now by roasting them.

And they are so worth it. Although I don't get around to making it very often, this time of year it is hard to resist. A quick visit to any farmer's market finds large, heavy, deep scarlet bell peppers in abundance, and I think, "take them home and DO IT!" If you find yourself in a similar situation, take some time out of your busy day to make these. You won't be sorry.

To start out, you need to blister and roast the peppers under high heat....a grill or broiler. I usually throw mine on the grill when I have other things being cooked. You can virtually forget about them, and just remember to run out and turn them occcasionally, till all sides char up to a blackened state (about 20-30 minutes). Once the peppers have softened, and it is sufficiently darkened, rush it into a bowl and put a quick lid on it. Then, go ahead and eat your dinner (you know, the one you had put on the grill with the peppers). After dinner, the peppers should be cool enough to handle.

So far, pretty easy huh? But this is the tedious part. Carefully peel off blackened skin and discard, as well as the stem and core of the pepper, and the seeds and white membranes inside. But, you need to do this while hovering overtop of the bowl, so that you can catch all of the drips of the sweet pepper juice....this forms the base of your marinade.

Once you have accomplished this part, you are home free. Now slice up the fleshy soft parts of the pepper that remain. Mix them right into the pepper juice with some a couple of glugs of good olive oil (the cloudier and greener the better!). Sprinkle a high quality balsamic vinegar into the mix, and season with tiny amounts of salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

And for the very important last step, eat it, by spooning it onto crusty italian bread with a shard of well aged italian cheese (parmigiano reggianno, pecorino romano, asiago, etc). You can also keep it under a layer of olive oil in the fridge for about 10 days, but it probably won't last that long. And right after I took this picture?

I ate it.