Spicy Garlic Roasted Peppers

These spicy garlic roasted peppers are marinated in garlic oil and have a kick from some garden fresh hot peppers.

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One of my all-time favorite meals is actually a super simple one: an Italian charcuterie board. There really is nothing better than cheese and Italian meats with all the fixings, like sun dried tomatoes, olives, and of course roasted peppers. So while we had a big celebration of my birthday at my dad’s house upstate this past weekend (our yearly pizza party), on the day of my actual birthday I requested something simple: a charcuterie picnic in the park. I knew that roasted peppers were a must for our picnic and was about to pick up a jar from the store. But then I remembered that I have tons of fresh hot peppers in my garden just begging to be used. So I decided to roast these, along with the traditional bell peppers, to make a batch of roasted peppers that’s all at once sweet, spicy, smoky, and super garlicy.

While there’s nothing quite as easy as picking up a jar of roasted red peppers from the grocery store, roasting them yourself is actually surprisingly easy. Jarred roasted red peppers are great in a pinch, but they’re sometimes a little too vinegary for certain recipes. I almost always prefer homemade ones, as you can store them in olive oil if you want to avoid that pickled taste. And when you make them at home, you can roast them with whatever you like and add all sorts of different ingredients, like I did with this recipe. Garlic adds a little bit of savory zing to the pepper marinade (because garlic is good in just about any recipe) and a few hot peppers balance out the sweetness of the bell peppers with a spicy kick. They’re perfect on everything from a charcuterie board to an Italian sandwich to a quick pasta.

ROASTING PEPPERS 101

There are actually a variety of ways in which you can roast peppers; on the grill, in the oven, or even directly over the flame of your burner. Whichever way you choose to roast them, try to get them a little bit charred. That smoky flavor is one of the staples of roasted peppers. I chose to roast my peppers in the oven for convenience. I roast them high and hot; about 20 minutes at 450.

But in my opinion, the key to roasting peppers doesn’t come from roasting them, it comes from what you do with them after you roast them. That’s when you’ll steam the peppers in their own heat, allowing them to soften and marinate. If you asked an Italian grandmother how to do this, she’d probably say to place them in a paper bag. But I let my peppers steam in a bowl covered tightly in plastic wrap. This also lets me add some grated garlic to the peppers. I grate it so that the heat from the peppers will cook the garlic slightly, but a fine mince would also work. Steaming the peppers this way also makes them easier to peel. You might also want to peel the larger bell peppers into strips at this point. It will make them easier to peel, and easier to eat later.

After peeling the peppers, I salt them slightly and then marinate them in olive oil. The longer you let them sit, the better they’ll taste. And once you try them, you might never want to buy a jar of roasted peppers again.