This past weekend my mom and I roasted red peppers with Rich’s aunt Ricki, mom, and Grandma. They roast red peppers every September and then freeze them for the season. So smart, because they can pull out perfectly roasted peppers for months after.
We roasted, peeled, and cut over 120 (!!) peppers this year. It sounds like a lot, but when you have five people and start an assembly line, it goes faster than you think. So call some of your friends, open a bottle of wine, and host a pepper roasting party! You’ll thank me when your pulling perfectly roasted peppers out of your freezer in January.
{Partially grilled}
{Ready to be taken off the grill}
{Each pepper steaming in its own bag}
{Cutting off the top, taking out the seeds, and removing the chard skin}
{Perfectly roasted peppers!}
{Over 120 peppers later…}
Roasted Red Peppers
Preheat your grill to medium heat. Put peppers directly on grill racks, about an inch apart. We put 6-7 peppers at a time on a small grill. Grill the peppers for about 5-8 minutes per side, until the side gets almost black and then flip to the other side and grill for another 5-8 minutes. The peppers should be mostly black when when they’re done (see picture above). Take the peppers off the grill and put each pepper in it’s own brown paper lunch bag and fold down the top. Let the pepper steam in the bag until it cools almost completely. Take the pepper out of the bag and cut off top where the stem is. Remove the seeds as best you can. There will probably be some stray seeds, don’t worry. Use a knife or your hands to peel off the black skin on the pepper. A soft red pepper will be waiting underneath. Stack the peppers in a foil-lined container.
When you’re ready to freeze the peppers, drain them completely, then wrap them in wax paper, and put each wax paper package in a plastic freezer bag. If you have a food saver, lightly drain the peppers and put the desired amount of peppers in a your food saver pouch with about a teaspoon of olive oil.
My favorite way to eat the peppers is on grilled bread with either some of Ricki’s homemade ricotta, or mashed avocado.
Enjoy!
