How to roast peppers

Roasted peppers are one of the most versatile ingredients around. Use them in a salad or pizza, puree them into soup or sauces, toss them in tacos or sandwiches, or lightly dress them and serve them as a side.

Their sweet, slightly smoky flavour and tender texture are welcome additions to many dishes.

Red bell peppers are what most of us envision when we think of roasted peppers, but you can use pretty much any other kind of pepper, such as poblano or jalapeno. Just keep in mind that smaller peppers will char very quickly and may be harder to handle and peel.

Even if you don’t plan to use them right away, roasting peppers is a great way to use what needs to be cleared out of your produce bin or the bumper crop your plants have produced.

Here’s a cheat sheet to help get you roasting.

Char them first. You have a couple of options for blackening the skins, which softens the peppers, lends a charred flavour and facilitates the removal of the skin. If you have a gas oven, do this directly over the open flame on your burners. Pay close attention, using tongs to turn the peppers until they are blackened all over. You can use the same technique on a grill, too.

The broiler is also a possibility. Lay the peppers on a baking sheet on a rack a few inches from the heating element and, again, turn to char all sides.

Or cut the tops and bottoms off the bell peppers then make one cut in the main body so you have one long strip you can lay flat on the sheet along with the sliced tops and bottoms. This eliminates the need to turn the peppers, and also lets you seed and stem them before, rather than after, cooking.

Then steam. Steaming the peppers helps loosen the skins for easy peeling. For the least amount of waste, I put the peppers in a bowl and cover it with a plate. Even a glass pie dish will do the trick. Let the peppers steam, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes.

Peel and seed. At this point, the skins should be fairly loose from the flesh. Use your fingers to pull them off, getting rid of the stem as well. Cut or tear open the pepper to remove the ribs and seeds. Don’t rinse the peppers, or you will wash away flavour.

Use or store. Depending on what you’re using them for, at this point you can cut the peppers however you like – diced, in strips, or even just halved. Store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a few days.

If you would like to save your summer bounty for later, go for the freezer in bags or plastic wrap, or layered in a container separated by wax or parchment paper.