Easy Steps For Roasting Peppers!

Roasted  peppers are delicious! They are good chopped into salads or Mexican dishes, but a favorite use by many is stuffed peppers. Have you ever noticed that often once stuffed peppers are filled and baked, the pepper itself it difficult to get soft enough to enjoy? Many try blanching the pepper before filling and this does help a bit, but not a lot.  Bell peppers have a thin coating that helps keep the peel firm and intact. This same coating, which is really hard to digest, also makes it hard for flavors to absorb into the pepper itself. Try roasting the pepper first! Roasted peppers are so soft and tender they can be cut with a fork. The roasting accentuates the sweetness of the flavor and allows the pepper to absorb seasonings. Roasted peppers provide a unique flavor to just about any recipe you include them in. The nice thing about roasting peppers is you can do a ton at once and freeze them whole or chopped. Roasting peppers is not hard to! Follow the simple directions and enjoy roasted peppers: sliced, chopped, stuffed, or anyway you like.

Wash and dry your peppers. Leave the peppers intact – stem and all. You can roast them in the oven (400 degrees) on a pan lined with foil, or on an outdoor grill, or even with a kitchen torch if you need a roasted pepper fast. Broiling also works for speedy roasting. It is so easy to roast peppers while grilling or baking other foods. If using the oven or a grill you want the rack for roasting as close to the heat source as possible. Place the whole pepper near the heat and allow it to set a few minutes. The skin will begin to blister and turn from a brown to a black. Once an area turns black turn and continues roasting until the entire pepper is black. Yes, black! It will look very unattractive for sure! Don’t forget to roast the top and the bottom of the pepper. The amount of time needed will depend on temperature and size of your pepper. Once completely blackened carefully remove to tray lined with paper towel. Do this gently to avoid causing any opening in the whole pepper. Cover peppers with a thick towel and allow to rest until cool, at least 10 minutes. Once cooled gently rub the peppers to remove the blackened peel. Twist stem to remove and gently pull out any remaining seeds. A gentle touch is important here to avoid tearing if you want to use your roasted peppers whole. You are ready to stuff the peppers, chop, or store whole. Any type of pepper works with this roasting methods. They are so good – give them a try!