Learn how to roast red peppers with my family recipe. It’s my fav way to eat red peppers. And soon you’ll be like me – eating them with every meal or snack!!
Roasted red peppers are so easy and flavorful that you’re going to want to make these regularly.
I learnt how to roast red peppers (or capsicum in Australia) when I was a small child. This recipe has always been a staple in my home especially growing up when we grew all our own vegetables. While the peppers were plentiful, my mother would be roasting them all the time and freezing them for later. Roasting sweetens and intensifies the flavor of the sweet pepper.
Ingredient notes
Of course the most important part is selecting the best red peppers to roast. Be sure to choose firm, unblemished peppers or capsicum that feel heavy for their size. You can use other colored peppers, such as green or yellow, however I find the green, in particular, are harder to peel.
Instructions
I prefer and recommend this method for Roasted Red Peppers. This is my family recipe.
- Take a baking pan
- Place whole red peppers in one layer in the pan. No oil or anything else!
- Pop into a hot oven for 20 minutes.
- Turn peppers over.
- Roast for another 20 minutes. (By now your kitchen is filled with gorgeous aromas!)
- Check peppers. Turn again to evenly char.
- Roast for a further 10-20 minutes.
- Remove. Allow to cool slightly before peeling and de-seeding.
I can hear you asking why this method? I learnt how to roast red peppers like this because that’s what my mamma did. If fact, all my family use this method.
Roasting a whole pepper creates steam inside the pepper which softens the flesh but doesn’t break it down completely.
Finally, with the red peppers in the oven, I am free to have cup of tea or get on with whatever I’m doing. The only interruption is to turn the red peppers twice in that time. Super easy!
Variations
There are a few other methods to roast red peppers which you may have seen in cookbooks or on various sites.
You could hold a red pepper over a flame (with tongs, of course!) but this means you can only roast one pepper at a time.
Or you could slice each pepper in half, scoop out the seeds, lay then cut side down on an oven pan and roast them under the broiler. With this method, I find it hard to get an even roasting on all sides.
What about an open fire? Sure, throw them in and go for it. Just be careful with this method that you don’t completely burn your peppers. You will have to be very vigilant!
Serving suggestions
The Italian way to dress Roasted Red Peppers is simply with good olive oil, chopped fresh garlic and a sprinkle of salt. The chopped garlic will impart good flavor, you don’t have to eat it!
If you are an anchovy lover, like I am, omit the salt and instead add a few anchovies to add salt and piquancy.
These Roasted Red Peppers are the perfect accompaniment for your next picnic spread, barbecue or butterfly chicken. I love it in a pasta salad or in a panino with cheese and prosciutto.
Now that you know how to roast red peppers, you’ll never want the jarred version again!
More Italian recipes you’ll love
Cavatelli – easy handmade pasta
Italian Rice Balls
Bagna Cauda – warm anchovy dip
Cannoli Cake
If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to give it a star rating and leave a comment or tag me on instagram @marcellina.in.cucina.
Either way, I love to hear from you!
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How to roast red peppers recipe
Ingredients
- 6 large red peppers or capsicum
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil approx
- 1-2 garlic cloves chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt flakes or to taste
- 6 anchovies optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200ºC.
- Place whole red peppers in one layer in the large baking pan. No oil or anything else!
- Pop into the preheated oven for 20 minutes. At this point the skin on the peppers should start bubbling and loosening.
- Using tongs, turn peppers over by about a third so that they cooked evenly.
- Roast for another 20 minutes. By now your kitchen is filled with gorgeous aromas and the peppers should be starting to char.
- Check peppers. Turn them over again so that the most uncharred area is on top.
- Roast for a further 10-20 minutes. You may need more or less depending on how large your peppers are. When done, the peppers should be at least 50% blackened, the skin should look loose and wrinkled and the peppers should be starting to collapse.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Using your fingers, peel off the blackened skins. Pull at the stalk and remove the stalk and seeds. Most of the seeds should come with the stalk.
- Cut or pull apart the roasted red peppers. This is easy to do using the natural segments in the peppers. Remove any remaining seeds.
- Dress with extra virgin olive oil, chopped garlic and a sprinkle of salt. Anchovies are optional but traditional in my family.
- Serve warm or cold.
Perfect!!
Glad you like it, Giovanna!
Such great information, Marcellina! Roasting peppers yourself is so much better than store bought and it’s so easy to do. And they add wonderful flavor to so many dishes!
I totally agree…love that flavour!
A great tutorial, Marcellina. Funny thing, I don’t much care for raw peppers, which you will sometimes find here in salads, but I absolutely adore roasted peppers, especially the way you describe, dressed with garlic, oil,salt and yes anchovies!
I love both but roasted peppers definitely are much sweeter and more flavoursome! Glad you’re an anchovy aficionado too!
Thanks for this, Marcellina! I love roasted red peppers and yours are the most beautiful I’ve seen! I would have to skip the garlic (my annoying allergy) but I think they would still be wonderful!
David, these are definitely still delicious without the garlic! Hope you enjoy.
I too, roast peppers in the oven, but my favorite way is on the grill. I have frozen them too. Once defrosted, I add olive oil and they’re so much better than the ones you buy at the store.
I like to freeze them too!
Marcellina, I love roasted red peppers, and this is mostly how I do them as well, however I have never tried freezing them when roasted. Must give that a try. Thanks, Pauline
Freezing is great because you can enjoy the goodness when red peppers prices are high.