How to make the most mouthwatering roasted peppers

November 7, 8:40 AMNew London Food ExaminerHeather Turner

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Bell Peppers
PhotoXpress/Jake Hellbach

The best way to make delicious roasted peppers is actually not by roasting them, but by grilling them.

The best peppers to use for this are Holland Bell peppers or any pepper with a thick skin, this is great for hot peppers as well. I prefer to use red, yellow and orange peppers, green peppers generally have thinner skins and not as much flavor when roasted.

1. Wash your peppers and pat dry.
2. Heat up your outdoor grill on high.
3. Place the peppers directly on the grill and let the skin blacken until almost the entire surface is black, don't let it get to the point where you are seeing ash grey on the skin (you have cooked them too much by then)
4. Turn the peppers until the entire exterior is well singed.
5. Remove peppers and let cool until they are easy to pick up comfortably. (Do not cover the peppers)
6. Using a rubbing motion with your thumbs, gently remove the skin for the peppers, it will come away very easily. If you are using this for hot peppers, WEAR GLOVES! The natural capsaicin in the peppers is very painful if you get in your eyes by accident or you touch other tender parts of your anatomy. Even heavy hand washing does not remove all the natural oils from this.
7. Don't wash your peppers as this will remove the natural flavorings after removing the skin.
8. Refrigerate the peppers and cover only when completely cool, within several hours the peppers will exude a natural juice.
9. Peppers prepared this way will store up to a week refrigerated. They taste even better on day two, after they have had a chance to sit in their natural juices.

Tip: Don't throw away the pepper juice, this freezes nicely and is a great extra flavor addition to fresh or commercial jarred tomato sauce. The peppers themselves may also be frozen but they change texture, the best way to freeze roasted peppers is to puree them. This is also a great addition to tomato sauce and can be used for making soups and sauces.