Saving the flavor for later


I really love the taste of red peppers in sauces or on pizza. They're pretty expensive (about twice the price of their green buddies). Sometimes you find them on sale - stock up and save some of  them for later by preserving them in jars. (Of course, you'll want to use some of those sweet, crunchy treats right away.)
The sweet taste of the peppers pairs wonderfully with salty cheeses like goat cheese or something more exotic like Mitzithara. Why not preserve the two tastes together?
These preserves would be great to mix into a salad or to top a pizza. I love it just by itself just on toast for an afternoon snack (or on a morning when I don't have time to eat a more thoughtfully-planned breakfast).
This is easy to do, but you have to be patient enough to wait for the skin to steam off in a paper bag. Other than that, there is hardly any work involved in this special treat.

Preserved Peppers and Goat Cheese
8 red peppers
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of red wine vinegar
Coarse salt
2 ounces of goat cheese

  • Wash, dry and lightly oil the peppers.
  • Roast the peppers. The best way to do this is on an open fire, but you can easily do it under the  broiler in your oven too. Either way, keep a close eye on them so you can turn them over as they get black.
  • Plop them into a paper bag and roll it shut so they can steam in their own juices for half an hour or so.
  • At this point, they'll be properly steamed and it will be easy enough to pull off the stem, peel off the skin and take the seeds out.
  • Put them into a bowl and pour some vinegar over them - just enough to coat them and sprinkle them with some salt...don't use too much, as the goat cheese is salty too.
  • Pour a little vinegar into the canning jars and pack a some peppers into the jars, add a layer of cheese. Put in another of peppers, then cheese and so on until the jar is half full. Run a knife along the side to get out any air bubbles.
  • Pour any salted juices that are left over in the bowl over top of the peppers. Leave a little room at the top.
  • Fill the rest of the jar (leaving, maybe, a quarter inch at the top) with a bit of olive oil.
  • Screw the lids on the jars.
  • Put the preserved peppers and goat cheese in the fridge and use them in a variety of recipes...or just snack on them.
Vegetarian

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