Simple Cooking: The Easy Way To Roast A Red Pepper

By Caitlin Klein in Food on Mar 22, 2012 4:00PM

Roasted red peppers are soft, sweet, and a great addition to many pasta dishes, sandwiches, and salads. Roasting a fresh red pepper can be easy, really easy, and so much better than buying the canned or jarred version. We’ve seen the Food Network stars holding red peppers with tongs over open flames, but this seems like a recipe for singed arm hair to those of us who are sometimes clumsy less than coordinated.

Here is the easiest way to roast a fresh red pepper in the oven, no special dexterity required.

You’ll need:
At least 1 red pepper
A baking sheet
Aluminum foil
Tongs
A paper bag

Directions:
Set your oven to broil and place an oven rack high up in the oven, as close to the broiler as possible.

Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the whole red pepper, stem and all, on the baking sheet. Lay the pepper on its side.

Once the oven is heated, slide the baking sheet so the pepper is close to the broiler heat. The pepper should not touch the broiler, but it should be very close.

Broil the pepper and allow it to blacken and blister. Watch the pepper carefully, but try not to open the oven door too much. This usually takes 3-5 minutes, but may take shorter or longer depending on your oven and the distance to the broiler.

Once the top side is blackened, use tongs to flip the pepper onto its other side. Replace the baking sheet close to the broiler and allow the other side to blacken and blister.

Once the pepper is completely blackened, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Place the red pepper into the paper bag and fold shut. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.

Remove the red pepper from the paper bag. The stem and seeds will pull straight out of the pepper. Discard them. The blackened skin will slide right off the meat of the pepper. Discard the skin. Slice the pepper open and use your fingers to remove any remaining seeds.