Rockin Roasted Red Peppers

Last week, I found a recipe for grilled garlic steaks with a yummy roasted red pepper sauce.  I have a new found appreciation and fondness for red peppers.  I never liked them, or any pepper for that matter.  Recently, however, I've started to like them.  I'll eat them raw with some dip, or chop them up in a salad.  I've also realized how delicious they are when they are roasted. Buying them in a pretty jar looks cute, however, they are surprisingly expensive!

I decided that paying $10 a jar was ridiculous... so I decided to make them myself. I'd worked at various restaurants for years, so I've seen the makings of many roasted red peppers.  Here we go:

Rockin Roasted Red Peppers

Ingredients

* Red peppers - I used 2, but use as many as you want :)

First, I turned the oven to 350.  I washed the red peppers and then dried them off.  Next, I just threw them in the oven.  You could also throw them on the grill or a gas stove if you wanted to. 

Keep an eye on the peppers because you don't want to forget about these babies in the oven.... that won't give us roasted red peppers, that would result in a charred, dry mess.  After a few minutes, you will see the skin of the pepper start to blister and turn dark brown.

As you keep an eye on the peppers, rotate them.  When one side is blistered, then flip it on the other side so that it can blister evenly. 

Keep rotating them again until each side is nice and blistered.  

Once the peppers come out of the oven, immediately put them in a plastic bag.  Seal the bag right away because you want these peppers to steam.

Leave them in the bag for at least 10-15 minutes.  This will steam them, making sure that the peppers turn nice and soft. 

When they come out, they will look somewhat deflated.  But this is good! Let them cool a bit so you can handle them. 

Now that they are cooled, you just peel them.  It's pretty easy to do.  The peel feels almost like paper and the pepper itself is really soft, so it just slides off easily. 

Just take your time and peel all of the skin off the pepper.  You don't want to leave the peel on because it won't taste good at all.... the texture will be off too.

Once they are peeled, just cut them in half so you can remove the stem and the seeds. 

So here you have these yummy roasted red peppers! It was super easy, cheap, and fast.  I used these babies to saute with onions and garlic, then I topped a nice steak with them - super yummy!  You can puree them with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to make a roasted red pepper vinaigrette.  You could put them on a salad.  You could even chop them up and stuff them into a chicken breast with some feta and oregano. The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy,

 Jenn