Roasted red peppers are a delicious ingredient used in many different dishes. They are wonderful on pizza or in an artichoke dip. Use them as toppers for hors d'oeuvres, perhaps over crackers with special cheeses. Roasted red peppers taste very good with feta or chevre, and they pair well with kalamata olives or artichoke hearts. Put roasted red peppers over a salad or into an omelette or quiche. You will find that this tasty pepper preparation has countless delicious uses.

Most people just buy roasted red peppers in a jar when a recipe calls for them, but they can be easily prepared fresh at home. The taste of them freshly prepared is well worth the extra effort. Use these easy step-by-step instructions to learn how to make roasted red peppers in your oven at home.

How to Make Roasted Red Peppers

makes about two to two and a half cups of roasted red peppers

Needed:

• an old baking sheet (one that it won't matter if it gets charred)
• two large red bell peppers
• optional: food grade plastic bag or paper bag

Preparation:

1. Thoroughly wash the red bell peppers. Cut them in half and remove the stems and seeds.

2. Set the oven rack in the oven as high as it can possibly go. You will want your baking sheet directly under the broilers. Turn the oven on at "broil."

3. Slit the halved red peppers a few times at both ends so that they will lay fairly flat. (See picture below.) Lay the slit pepper halves out on an old baking sheet (one for which charring and discoloration won't matter). Make sure they are spread evenly and are fairly flat.

4. To roast peppers: When the oven broilers are glowing red, put your baking pan in on the highest rack (as high as possible without touching them).

5. Watch the peppers closely. This process takes only a few minutes. If they are blackening unevenly, turn the baking sheet around halfway through. When the skins are blackened and charred pretty evenly, they are done. Make sure that only the skins get charred, and not the "meat" of the pepper. It's okay if a the skins still have some red places, so long as they are mostly charred. Remove them from the oven.

6. If you have a food-grade plastic bag, remove the peppers from the baking sheet with a spatula and place them in the bag to steam as they cool. A paper bag also works. This will make removing the skins easier, but is not necessary.

7. Once the roasted red peppers have cooled for ten to fifteen minutes and they are not too hot to handle, take them off of the baking sheet or out of the bag. Peel the skins off, being careful not to take the flesh of the peppers with it. The skins should come off pretty easily.

8. Discard skins. Usually roasted red peppers are sliced in thin strips, but cut them however you would like for whatever you are using them in. Roasted red peppers can be served room temperature, chilled, or however is customary for the dish in which you are using them.

Alternately:

Alternately, the peppers can be roasted whole on a grill for a smoky flavor. Just be sure to turn them as each side blackens. Cool and peel them just as above, then cut them open and remove the seeds.