Marinated Roasted Peppers

Roasted sweet peppers marinated with fresh lime or lemon juice, salt, good quality olive oil and seasoned with garlic, is a tasty bite any way you have it. Eat with fried or steamed seafood, roasts, or layered on top of toast. Put it between your sandwiches for an extra meaty bite or eat it just as is.

Roasted peppers can also be added to savoury tarts and soups too.

The peppers can be roasted in the oven or on the stovetop over an open flame. If you have an outdoor grill that will work too. See the notes section below for temperature and timing if roasting in an oven. Personally, I prefer the flavour and smokiness you get when roasting over direct flames.

There are no exacting amounts to the ingredients here; use as many or as few sweet peppers as you have, and the marinade ingredients, combine in quantities to suit your taste.

INGREDIENTS

• Sweet peppers
• Garlic, peeled and minced finely (see notes below)
• Fresh lime or lemon juice

• 

  Salt to taste

• Ground black pepper to taste
• High quality olive oil
• Cured olives (optional)
• Fresh chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS

1. Roast the peppers over high heat turning them every couple of minutes to char the peppers completely. See oven method in notes.
2. Transfer the peppers to a clean plastic bag and twist to close or if using a zip bag, seal. Let sit for 15 minutes so the peppers can steam to enable the skins to be easily removed. If you prefer, transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with a lid or tea towel.
3. Using a small knife, scrape the char off of the peppers; it is ok if 1 or 2 bits of char remain. Remove the stems, cut open the pepper and scrape away the seeds and membrane discarding them. Slice the peppers as thick or thinly as you like and transfer them to a bowl.
4. Mix together lime/lemon juice, salt and pepper; taste and adjust to suit your taste, it should be like a pickle.
5. Add minced garlic to the peppers (average 1 teaspoon minced garlic for every 3 peppers). Pour the lime/lemon juice mixture over the peppers, garlic, and olives if using, and toss to mix.
6. Drizzle the mixture with olive oil and toss to mix. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 2 hours for the flavours to meld (toss a few times as it sits). Toss with parsley before serving. If you are not using immediately, store in an airtight glass jar and use within a week.

NOTES

• To oven roast the peppers, preheat oven to 400 degrees F, transfer peppers to a sheet pan and roast for 1 hour or until charred and wrinkled. Set aside to cool until you can handle them and remove the skins. Continue with direction # 3.
• I wanted a little heat in my peppers so I roasted a scotch bonnet, removed the membrane and seeds and chopped finely to add to the mixture.