{"id":2598,"date":"2017-10-02T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=2598"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:59:15","slug":"roasted-sweet-peppers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2017\/10\/02\/roasted-sweet-peppers\/","title":{"rendered":"Roasted Sweet Peppers"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2, 2017<\/span><\/p>\n

Roasted peppers are a classic of Italian cuisine. They are a perfect example of ingredient-driven cooking. All that is required are good peppers, good olive oil, and a few minutes of scorching heat. There\u2019s no way to hide bad ingredients, since there are only two (not counting salt).<\/p>\n

A wonderful presentation is to prepare an array of roasted vegetables such as peppers, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and scallions served artfully arranged on a platter and anointed with extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a \u201cwonderful\u201d presentation because it looks beautiful, it tastes great, it\u2019s easy to prepare, and it can all be done in advance and served at room temperature. It makes an impressive antipasto platter in the winter and an inviting warm-weather side-dish in the summer.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not get carried away. Peppers are classic and work very well on their own. If you like how they turn out you can experiment with other vegetables.<\/p>\n

The first time I got serious about making these was back in the late 1980s when we lived in Chicago. We had a four story townhouse. The top floor was the master suite with a very large deck. We had redwood planters made to encircle the perimeter of the deck. In addition, we added scores of pots and, when things got a little too crowded on our deck, we expanded to Billy and Carla\u2019s deck next door!<\/p>\n

We grew an amazing amount of produce on that deck. I can\u2019t begin to remember all of it but it included tomatoes, tomatillos, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, a fig tree, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, and an abundance of herbs including enough basil to feed a small country. We installed a grape arbor but the grapes didn\u2019t do well.<\/p>\n

We bought an upright freezer and put it in the garage so that we could put up food from the garden.<\/p>\n

One year I roasted peppers and conserved them under a layer of olive oil in the refrigerator. They were good but I subsequently discovered that the USDA recommends against this technique as the covering of oil creates an environment where anaerobic bacteria, like the one that causes botulism, can grow.<\/p>\n

After that first year, I didn\u2019t preserve roasted peppers in olive oil again but I did make flavored olive oils and flavored vinegars every year right up until we moved full-time to Santa Fe. The USDA has the same recommendation regarding putting herbs in oil but, for some reason, I chose to ignore the advice.<\/p>\n

These days, when I want roasted peppers, I just buy fresh peppers at the farmers market, farm stand, or supermarket and roast them. Luckily Bell peppers are available year-round.<\/p>\n

In addition to good-quality ingredients, scorching heat is required. The idea is to blacken and blister the skin quickly. If you do that too slowly the flesh of the pepper cooks too much and becomes mushy. For all practical purposes, you cannot blacken the skin too quickly. The flesh will always cook enough to be good. My usual method, as described here, is to use my gas grill on very high heat. If I only want to roast one or two peppers, I put them directly on the gas flame of my stove. Like I said, you cannot blacken the skin too quickly.<\/p>\n

As good as the peppers are on their own, they can be used as ingredients in other dishes. Remember the uncooked tomato sauce <\/a>I posted a few weeks ago? I said that the dish could be made with roasted peppers when tomatoes aren\u2019t in season. Now that tomato season is coming to an end, consider roasting a few extra peppers and using them to make pasta later in the week.<\/p>\n

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Roasted Sweet Peppers<\/h2>\n
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Red, yellow, and orange bell peppers are sweeter than green ones because they are fully ripe. I usually use an array of different colored peppers. Many recipes suggest steaming the peppers in a paper bag after roasting. I don\u2019t like using a bag as it absorbs the juice that comes out of the peppers. A heatproof bowl with a tight-fitting lid allows the peppers to steam and preserves the pepper juices.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>50 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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