How To: Roast Red Peppers

I never used to like peppers very much. For the longest time I used to think the only way to eat a pepper was raw. Yuck! That was before I learned how to roast them. I'll admit some raw peppers are alright, but seriously, why would you want to eat them raw when you can roast them? If you've never done this before then you really have to try it. The flavour and texture turn tender and sweet. Once you've tasted fresh roasted red pepper you will never settle for the jarred kind again.

There are a few different methods for roasting bell peppers depending on what type of cooking appliance you have handy. You can grill them straight on the BBQ or use your gas stove burner, but I'm going to show you what I find to be the easiest, less messiest way -roasting them in the oven under the broiler.

All you'll need is a red pepper, a sharp knife, some foil or a foil plate, zip-loc bag and of course your oven.

Ready? Set?

Grab your knife and let's get started!

To roast, first set your oven to broil, then take a pepper and slice the top off as shown:

Now run your knife down the inside of the pepper along the white spongy membrane. You should then be able to detach the seeds using your fingers. Just give it a little twist and pull. It should pop out easily intact with little to no mess.

Huzzah! You've now successfully de-seeded a pepper.

Slice it in half, then lay each skin side up on the cutting board and press down with the palm of your hand to squish the pepper flat.

Squish!

Place each pepper skin side up on a long sheet of foil or a foil plate.

It's time to roast! Place them in the preheated oven and let roast until the skin turns black and blistery. Keep a watchful eye and pay attention to it for the next 10-15 minutes.

Remove them from the oven and place them in a sealed zip-lock bag (perfect for easy clean up, you just have the bag to throw away when your are done). Let them sit for 15 minutes. This will allow steam to build up in the bag, causing the skin of the pepper to lift away.

Once they've rested remove them from the bag and peel off the skin using your fingers.

Viola, perfectly roasted bell peppers every time!

Enjoy them on salad or pizza, in sandwiches, pastas, stir-fry's, quinoa and rice pilafs, or even on their own. You can puree them into sauces, add them to salsa or soup...the list goes on.

How about Rustic Kamut Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage?

They are heavenly delicious and will melt in your mouth. These are easily one of my favourite vegetables now.

This is a great method for roasting any kind of pepper. Sweet red bell peppers in particular contain almost 300 percent of your daily vitamin C intake. Yellow and green are also good sources of the antioxidant.

Rustic Kamut Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage

Back in the day when we used to eat without a second thought, spaghetti and meat sauce was a big hit at my house. My mom would make her famous tomato meat sauce with ground beef and we would cook up some white pasta and sit down to a family dinner. I still love my mom's old recipe as a treat -minus the white pasta. But one day it dawned on us, "hey, why can't we just clean it up and make it more nutritious?" Of course!

Well that's exactly what we did. Served with some good wine of course:

Ever since I picked up Tosca Reno's first eat clean diet cook book, I've been inspired to take recipes and turn them into healthy every day meals. It's become something of a hobby that I get to enjoy with my family when we come together to make dinner. We really like cooking together. And after all, real food should taste good and have the best of both worlds (nutrition & flavour).

This is now a recipe that we like to make over and over again. It's comforting, it's healthy, it's whole grain and most importantly it tastes really good! If you're looking for something to go with a good bottle of red wine, then this is a recipe for you. We made this last weekend and enjoyed it with a glass of Ravine's VQA Red Coat from St. Davids Ontario. 2010 was a great year for wine in Niagara.

I like to call this a rustic tomato sauce because the tomatoes are roasted down in the oven along with other veggies and herbs, making it less of a traditional pasta sauce. It uses plump fresh Ontario grown tomatoes, asparagus, and roasted sweet red bell peppers all roughly chopped. Instead of the ground beef we picked up some organic locally prepared low sodium extra lean turkey sausage from Nicholyn farm in Horseshoe Valley. Another great place that I like to frequent. And ancient grain kamut spaghetti to replace the white pasta. I would strongly suggest topping it with a little bit of soft goat cheese like I served it here, no measurements needed:

The fresh basil came from my herb garden.

Rustic Kamut Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups of mixed tomatoes, chopped (plum, yellow, cherry)
• 1 tbsp each of olive oil and red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
• 1 large red bell pepper, roasted and chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of sliced mushrooms
• 3-4 turkey sausages, grilled and sliced
• 2-3 tbsp fresh basil, torn
• 4 large knobs of goat cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425* F. In a large baking dish, combine chopped tomatoes, asparagus, olive oil, red wine vinegar, dried basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, sea salt and garlic. Place in oven to roast for 10 minutes.
2. Saute the mushrooms in a medium sauce pan then add them, roasted red pepper, and grilled turkey sausage to the tomato mix. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes in the oven.
3. Meanwhile, start cooking the pasta for 8-10 minutes.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and toss with the tomato mixture and half of the basil.
5. Serve among 4 plates and top with fresh torn basil and goat cheese.

Cheers to another home cooked meal!

If you like flavourful food you do not want to miss this one.