Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted red peppers are used commonly today. You can buy them in bits and pieces, or as relatively whole peppers in jars at most grocery stores. They can be used in salads, pasta dishes, appetizers and in anything else where you would like a dash of scarlet colour and some subtle flavour.

It's easy to roast peppers at home on your stove, in the oven, or on the barbecue. If you have a gas stove, simply place the whole pepper on a high flame and turn it frequently to char one side after another. Although I haven't roasted peppers on the barbecue, I assume that the method would be similar. If you want to roast them in the oven, place the peppers on a cookie sheet under the broiler, watch them carefully and turn the peppers as necessary to get them sufficiently charred.

After the pepper is well-charred, remove it from the heat and place it in a paper bag. Close the top of the bag and let the pepper steam until it is cool. Remove it from the bag and run your hands up and down the sides of the pepper under running water to remove most of the black char. Cut off the top and remove the seeds. You'll have a much fresher tasting and less slimy version of a roasted red pepper than the bottled variety.