Roasted bell peppers

Making peppers oven .

This is a basic vegetable recipe that we always have in mind and we make several times a year, since it provides us with one more point for many dishes .

Sometimes the laziness of doing them invades us for the time it takes us, but I guarantee that later it is well worth the work done.

There are countless preserves of roasted peppers , some of very good quality, but few come close to those that we can prepare in the home oven. In addition, they surely know us better by having made them ourselves.

The most traditional is to use red peppers  that you will find all year in the markets, thanks to their cultivation in greenhouses, but know that their best time is from summer to autumn. In the same way you can include green and / or yellow peppers, to give a little color to the recipe.

We have taken the opportunity to make all the preserves with roasted peppers for the whole year. In 4 rounds of baking of 1 kg. of peppers each, I have got 18 jars, perfect for preparing a lot of recipes.

They are perfect as a complement, garnish, accompaniment, stews, pepper salads , toasts, and everything you can think of.

A serving of roasted peppers is coming to mind, with Arzúa-Ulloa cheese and Cantabrian anchovies. Or also a Galician bread toast, with peppers and tuna belly from the north.

I hope you dare with them and prepare them at home, the homemade always succeeds. 

Preparation of roasted peppers. Baked

1. We chose a baking dish in which the peppers fit perfectly. They could be done directly on the baking sheet, but I prefer to use a separate source. It is more manageable and much less messy.
2. We preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200º C, “total heat” function or fan.
3. We wash the peppers well and dry them. With the help of a kitchen brush (or even with your hands) we impregnate them with olive oil on all sides. We salt to taste.
4. We place the peppers in the source and this in the tray in the central position. We lower the oven temperature to 180º C, heat “up and down”, and bake 50 minutes.
5. Halfway through we open the oven and taking care not to burn ourselves, we turn the peppers over. This will roast them evenly on both sides.
6. After time we remove from the oven. We will check how their skin is completely wrinkled and they have released a lot of liquid during baking.

Cleaning, packaging and conservation. Final presentation

1. Now we are faced with the task of peeling the peppers. For this we will make them sweat with a little trick and in this way it will be very easy to peel them.
2. We cover the source with aluminum foil, and leave them covered for 15-20 minutes until they are cold and easy to handle.
3. We uncover and one by one, we separate the meat from the stem and the seeds, and we remove the skin without major problem.
4. We are passing them to a plate trying not to have seeds. We reserve the water that has been released during cooking.
5. We cut them into strips, about 5-6 for each pepper. We put them in a glass jar, add a little cooking water and fill with olive oil until covered. With this method we will ensure that they are kept for about 30 days in the refrigerator.

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for roasted peppers.  Do not miss any detail so that they come out perfect.

How to preserve roasted peppers

• To keep them at home we will keep them in the refrigerator in a plastic ball with holes, so that they breathe. With this method they will last us up to 12-14 days in good condition.
• Applying this recipe, once roasted and peeled we can keep them in the fridge in glass jars with olive oil. They will hold us up to a month in perfect condition.
• If you want them for the whole year, we will fill the jars (sterilized) adding olive oil covering the peppers. We will put them in a bain-marie, boiling for at least 20 minutes. In this way we will make some great homemade preserves available for any occasion.
• Another way to preserve them is to freeze them. It will be enough to make small packages with plastic wrap with the quantity that suits us.

Tips for some roast chilli peppers

• The main component of the pepper is water, followed by carbohydrates. What makes it a vegetable with a low caloric content.
• It is a good source of fiber and, like other vegetables, its protein content is very low and it hardly contributes fat.
• Red peppers are fleshy, thick, and a good size. Once cooked they will give us a smooth and delicate flavor.
• To roast we must choose them well fleshy, hard and firm to the touch, with a bright color, smooth skin, without stains or bumps. If we see that they are flattened or wrinkled, it means that they have been stored for quite a few days.
• The green stem also helps us identify the freshness of the pepper. It must be brightly colored, firm and consistent in texture.