How to Make Roasted Red Peppers

A simple tutorial on how to roast sweet red bell peppers at home.

Re-post of original from 1/7/13 (90 views 1 +1) updated pictures, edited for content and grammar, pinnable image, tweetables, other post/recipe links.
I love roasted red peppers. I put them on homemade pizzas, sandwiches, in sauces and eat them by themselves.

Roasted Peppers make a great addition to meals & antipasti. [Tweet this]

Roasted red bell peppers are expensive to buy so I make them myself. It's messy, but the results are amazing.

Roasted Red Peppers are inexpensive when homemade. [Tweet this]

This tutorial is for people, like me, who do not have gas stoves (apparently you can char the pepper skins directly over the flame).

Start with whole, clean red bell peppers.

You can roast just 1 or as many that will fit on your baking sheet. Place them in the oven as close to the broiler as possible and broil for a few minutes until the skin chars, flip the peppers and repeat on all sides. (I used my toaster oven because my regular oven broiler has been broken for a while. It worked wonderfully and I set the timer to the dark toast picture and it was the perfect time.)

As the peppers char they will blacken, the blacker and more burnt looking the skin the better (this adds great flavor and makes the skins easier to peel off). Take out of the oven and immediately place the hot peppers into a zipper bag and seal (sometimes I use a Tupperware). Allow peppers to sit and steam for at least 1 hour until they are cool enough to handle.

Now for the messy part. Using your hands and a knife or fork, pull off the stem and squeeze out the seeds. Then begin to peel the charred skin off the peppers (the knife or fork helps pull up the skin so you can get your fingers under it to peel).

Once peeled, cut or slice the pepper into pieces of desired size or leave whole and place into a jar or Tupperware. Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator or use right away. I have kept these in the fridge for up to a week, but they will probably be eaten long before that.