You know how they say that smells can invoke the strongest and most vivid memories? For me one such smell is the irresistible aroma of roasting red peppers that’s wafting from every street corner of my old home country in the last days of summer. My parents would buy the equivalent of 100 pounds of sweet red peppers, and me and my best friends will spend hours talking and roasting peppers on the balcony of the 13th floor of our apartment complex. What a time!
We used a small contraption that was specifically designed for roasting peppers and could roast only one pepper at a time! It was like a small chimney where you put the pepper on one end, and then a valve releases the pepper on the other end when done. I have a huge smile on my face thinking about this time.
And what do you do with so much roasted peppers you might ask? Lots of things in fact. You can stuff them with eggs and cheese and pan fry them (yum! recipe to come later), you can cut them into a quick salad, you can saute them with scrambled eggs and feta for an awesome quick lunch or dinner and the list goes on. But red pepper’s ultimate purpose was to be transformed into this beloved jam-like spread.
It must have been endless hours of roasting, sometimes days, to do away with those 100 pounds of peppers. And the work has barely begun! Then follows the tedious peeling, after which the peppers proceed to the next station in the canning factory – canned whole in jars, or ground together with tomatoes and roasted eggplants to be made into one of the quintessential Bulgarian dishes – ljutenica! It’s cooked to a mushy blend of peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, with lots of oil, sugar and salt. It’s like a roasted pepper jam but is mildly sweet and salty. We would then spread it on a piece of bread, and call it a breakfast. Or, lunch. Or dinner. We spread it on everything, served alongside roasted meat, as a side dish, or just ate it plain with a spoon straight from the jar.
Don’t get scared though – I am not going ask you to slave that much for this dish. I am giving you a quick version of this favorite dip.
You will need to find good size meaty sweet red peppers – both the red bell pepper or the sweet Italian variety will do. Roast them in a 450 degree oven, together with a big whole eggplant for 30-40 minutes. Then just quickly blitz in the food processor and finish cooking it in the stove with a bit of tomato taste, a good amount of olive oil, sugar and salt. Texture is extremely important here and completely changes the taste in my opinion. You need a good chunky texture. It’s probably safer to mash by hand instead of using a food processor.
That’s it! You can then serve it as a dip with pita chips, spread on a toasted piece of bread and make a bruschetta, serve next to burgers or other meat, or use in place of ketchup. It’s a great snack and appetizer. I almost added it to the breakfast category, but I could see the funny look on your face.
- 1 cup roasted red peppers from 4 medium sized bell peppers or 8-9 sweet Italian red peppers
- 1 medium eggplant
- 3 tbs tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
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Roast the red peppers uncovered in a 450 degree oven. Turn once or twice to broil evenly on all sides.
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Make a few cuts with a knife on the eggplant, and roast it whole with the red peppers until it becomes fork tender.
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Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let stand for 30 minutes.
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Peel the red peppers and eggplant.
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Put peppers and eggplant in food processor and pulse just a few times. It's important to have chunky consistency. Alternatively, mash by hand with a potato masher.
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Put the mashed peppers and eggplant with the rest of the ingredients in a deep pan, and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly.
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Let cool completely, and then adjust seasoning.
Wohh precisely what I was searching for, thanks for
putting up.