Roasted Peppers

The addition of sweet, smokey, red bell peppers enhances many camp recipes. A plain sandwich comes alive with color and taste while a pasta salad becomes a true Italian delight. You've got the coals hot or the grill smokin'... just add a few peppers for a few minutes and you'll be rewarded with a grilled condiment that will surpass any other. This always impresses the rafting clientele on our river trips.

Roasted Peppers
10 red peppers (large or medium)
1/4 cup of olive oil (or less)
paper towels
large paper bag

Wash and dry your peppers. Decide if you want to roast them whole or cut them in half. Cutting them in half makes it easier to handle on the grill and also cuts the cooking time down a bit. You decide on this one. Place all peppers on a large baking sheet or plate. Take a brush or a paper towel and oil the peppers well; both outside and inside (if you have cut them). I just drizzle the oil over all of the peppers and then just take a paper towel and swab the oil over the entire bunch. (at home, just use your hands) Place each pepper cut side down or whole onto the grill. Watch them carefully as they will start to burn very quickly. Just rotate them around until the skins are blackened and shriveled. This should only take about 10 minutes or less.

The home method is to take the peppers and place them onto a large flat baking sheet and roast them or broil them in the oven at a high heat. Wait until one side is blackened and then turn them and bake some more.

Take the blackened peppers and quickly place them into a large paper bag. Wait about 5 - 10 minutes. Take one pepper out and with a paper towel wipe the black skin away. It should slip off the surface very easily. Proceed with the rest. If the skins don't fall off, put the peppers back into the bag and wait a bit more. If the skins still won't fall off, then you didn't roast them enough. Put them back on the grill and do it again. Hint: the skins need to be black and shriveled!

Slice the cooled and clean red flesh into long strips. To store, add them into a clean jar and cover with olive oil. It will keep up to a week this way and you can take them out to use on your favorite sandwich or add them to a pasta salad. The kids like to add them on top of homemade pizza or a broiled english muffin. I even like to eat them rolled up in a tortilla with leftover chicken and greens.