How to make Roasted Peppers in Oil
February 6, 2007 at 11:12 AM
by Ashleigh
Roasted Peppers in Oil
I promised I'd share my pasta sauce picker-upper or 'opkicker'.
Peppers are a really important ingredient in our household. I add them to just about everything but I find that sometimes the harshness of the fresh flavour isn't what I want in a particular recipe, or, more often, saute'ing peppers takes too much time.
My solution arose out of a recipe in a book I have called 'Preserving' by Oded Schwarz.
It's a treasure trove of recipes on how to preserve just about everything. This book encounters a lot of use in our household.
The recipe I used as my basis was one for Chargrilled Vegetables in Oil. The complete recipe gives instructions for sealing the peppers into sealable jars* and leaving them for 4 - 6 weeks to mature, but I just make as much as I need for a week and I don't leave them to mature. In the summer when I have my own pepper plants and I'm faced with a glut I'll do the actual preserving method for more long term storage.
My method has a shelf life of about a week** and I add them to just about everything. It's also much cheaper than buying roasted peppers in jars from the delicatessen.
Roasted Peppers in Oil
You'll need a bag of mixed peppers - about six or eight in total, a lemon, capers, garlic, olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper.
- Heat your oven to 200C and place the peppers on a baking sheet.
- Roast the peppers until the skins are slightly blackened and then remove them from the oven.
- When removed the peppers should be soft enough to easily be cut into slices. Don't worry about removing all the seeds, but do remove the stalk. If you like you can remove the blackened skins but I leave some of them on.
- Pack the sliced peppers into a clean preserving jar, squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. Don't worry about the lemon seeds, they can go in too.
- Add a couple of teaspoons of capers and a few cloves of garlic if you like. Add some salt and pepper and herbs too if you want - rosemary and thyme are good.
- Top up with olive oil to cover the peppers. Keep in the fridge and use as necessary. I haven't tried keeping them longer than a week because they get used up before the week is up.
They give a great soft red pepper flavour to pasta dishes and casseroles.
* For anyone who's into preserving, Ikea has the kind of jars with seals pictured above.
**Just a note here to say that if you plan to preserve these for longer term use you'll need to sterilise your jars first and follow a slightly different method. To sterilise the jars wash them in the dishwasher and place them in the oven at 160C for about 10 minutes. Pack your product into the hot jars, then heat the oil and lemon juice to about 80C. Pour the hot liquid carefully into the jar making sure the peppers are completely covered and then seal. This method will let you keep the peppers for up to a year.
Comments
Okay, you've sold me on it! I'm buying peppers at the market this weekend!
Fantastic! I am always interested in learning how to be more sustainable, and this is a great project. Peppers are one of the few things I can actually grow in Phoenix.
Do you just put the peppers in the oven whole? without any oil on it? Sorry to be daft but thought I'd check. Great blog by the way!!
Ash: Thanks Kate! I just put mine in the oven whole without brushing with oil but if you wanted to you could!
Oh yum! I love peppers... would this work for hot peppers too?
Ash: yup, works for hot peppers too!
Is the book nice? Should I eh buy it? (Say yes!) Inmaken is my new favourite thing! Thks for the recipe, roasted peppers are great on almost anything. I usually end up freezing any extra but this is better.
Totally agree that this will taste better than frozen product which can sometimes be bitter. I`m all set to go to the Farmer`s market Sunday & buy a bag full. Thnx
Better than trying to roast the peppers in the oven use a propane or MAPP gas torch. Char them till they are black; while still warm seal them in a paper bag for 5 minutes then light scrub under running water. Its fast and leave some of the burnt skin on for flavor.
If I want to keep these for up to a year do I need to process in a water bath or a pressure canner?
I have a garden full of a variety of peppers and this looks great!
Thanks!
They sound delicious! My peppers are ripening as we speak and I want to preserve them for use all year, maybe for gifts too, but some websites have said storing in oil causes botulism. What is your experience?
Yum! What a great idea. I'll add the jar to my never-ending Ikea list.
February 6, 2007 5:04 PM