Roasted Peppers, the Easy Way!

If I show you step-by-step how easy is to make the best roasted peppers in your own oven, I guarantee that you won't buy the jarred kind, which does not come remotely close to the homemade kind. I'm not going to convince you that it's cheap to buy red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, but if you can find a local produce market, chances are they always have bulk buys of whatever kind of vegetables that they have an abundance of, or they are getting a little too ripe, so they will put it on sale. Our local Cuban produce market has the freshest and such a variety of every kind of produce you can find.

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I was so thrilled when my daughter gave me 2 large bags of peppers, and zucchini, that she bought for $1.00 each bag from the produce market. That's what I call a real thrift buy and I am truly grateful for it.

If you love peppers as much as I do, follow me through all the steps and I will show you how easy it is to make roasted peppers.

This is where the easy part comes in. Cut the peppers in half, and clean the seeds out. Also, discard the core.
Depending how many peppers you have, Line one or two bake pans with aluminum foil.

Place the peppers facing down, and spray with cooking spray. You can also scatter some garlic cloves around them. Do not drizzle with oil, or it will get too wet. Peppers will release a lot of liquid during roasting time. You don't have to season peppers at this stage.

I would have preferred also some red and yellow, although there was one red pepper in the bunch. What can I say? This bunch cost $1.00. I am happy with this "loot." Set your oven at 425 degree F. Roast peppers for about 45 minutes, do not turn them...it's not necessary.
When they appear wilted, and wrinkled like in the photo, you can remove from the oven.

Have a large plastic baggie ready. With a tong, remove peppers to place into the bag and snap it closed.

Put all the peppers in the bag, and let it sit in the bag for about 20 minutes...by that time they will also cool down and it will be easier to peel the skin off.

Empty the peppers into a colander and place into a clean and empty sink.

Just look, how easy the skin comes off. Pile the peppers on a platter, and ready to prepare them.

These are the peeled peppers, ready to be sliced.

On a cutting board, with a small sharp knife, slice all the peppers, and line a platter decoratively.

Line a platter with the peppers, and in between the layers, drizzle a very nice extra virgin olive oil, and white balsamic vinegar.

This is the amazing White Balsamic Vinegar I used to drizzle on the peppers. Notice that it's fig infused which gave a slight sweetness. Just sprinkle with sea salt, a small amount of garlic powder, and freshly ground pepper, and you can also add a nice touch of sliced sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.

note: you can also add the roasted garlic pieces to the layered peppers. The reason I added garlic powder, because fresh garlic overpowers the sweet natural flavor of the peppers.

I like to make my own sun dried tomatoes, which I do quite often and keep in a jar, but I did find this beautiful California Sun Dried Julienne Cut tomatoes which I truly love to add to my recipes.

Just look at the beautiful vibrant colors...the sun dried tomatoes, and the roasted peppers. You can add them to sandwich, use as appetizer with crunchy pieces of bread, add them to pasta, or salad, and you can also add them to cooked vegetables...Enjoy!