This is easy hack for delicious grilled peppers takes all the hassle out of peeling them to reveal that sweet, succulent flesh. Once cooked, peeled and dressed, these peppers can be served as a side dish or used as the versatile basis for a range of other dishes.
Grilled peppers, Mediterranean-style, become wonderfully sweet by removing the skins before dressing in olive oil, balsamic vinegar or your own seasoning of choice. This is particularly true of red and yellow peppers while green peppers remain naturally a little more bitter.
You can prepare them in any quantity needed. Work on the basis of one large pepper per diner if serving them as a main side dish, half if serving as part of a starter or in a salad. They are best served at room temperature, so allow some cooling time. Once dressed and cooled, they will last a good few days in an airtight container in the fridge.
The peppers become even tastier by marinating them in oil, vinegar, lemon rind, capers and black pepper in a sealed container in the fridge overnight. Yes, the quick cheat is to buy them already jarred. But somehow they are never as good unless you’re prepared to pay quite a lot for the best stuff. Also, bottled peppers tend to become very soft over time in the jar, so the DIY version is definitely a better option if you prefer them to have a firmer texture.
Yet, one of the reasons that people avoid preparing them for scratch is that peeling them is time-consuming; it can take ages to pull off the bitter skin, tiny flecks at a time. Unless you know this fool-proof hack.
NB: this dish is suited to grills that grill from above such as those on most domestic cookers. If you prefer to use a chargrill, barbecue or any methods that grill from below with direct contact between the grille and the pepper, don't bother peeling the peppers since it rather defeats the point of the cooking method. In all other respects, prepare in exactly the same way. The version with unpeeled chargrilled peppers will lack the sweetness of this version but it has its own merits such as a tasty smokiness.
Shopping list
Large bell peppers; red, yellow, green or a mixture thereof in a quantity to suit your needs
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
A lemon (or lime)
Capers, finely chopped (optional)
Black pepper and/or other seasoning of choice
Finely chopped spring onions (optional)
Cooking method
Wash the peppers and cut off the tops. Cut each pepper in half vertically and then each half in half vertically; in other words into quarters. Using a small knife, cut away the excess white "ridges" that run vertically inside the peppers and remove any seeds.
Place the pepper quarters, skin-up, on a grilling tray and press down with clean fingers. You want to make the pieces become as flat as possible. Use a firm pressure, but try not to "crack" the flesh. Apply a very thin coating of olive oil to each piece with a brush or fingers.
Place under the grill until the peppers begin to cook. Before they brown, remove the tray from the grill, turn each pepper slice over and grill from the other side. Keep turning and alternating to ensure that they cook fully and evenly.
Because grills vary, so will cooking time. But, it should take approximately 3 to 4 mins on each side, turning and repeating 3 to 4 times in total. Always start and end the grilling with the pepper pieces placed skin-up on the tray. Don’t worry if the peppers brown a little or even get a few black "patches" on the skin side, but try not to let them become too blackened on the skinless inner side.
When fully cooked, remove them from the tray and immediately put them into a heatproof ziplock “boiling”, taking care not to burn yourself. If you don’t have a ziplock bag, any small, clean plastic bag—such as a large sandwich bag—will do. Press as much of the air out of the bag—don’t worry about squashing the pieces of pepper tightly up against each other—and zip the bag shut. (If using an ordinary plastic bag, squeeze the air out of the bag, then seal by twisting the top of the bag several times).
Leave for at least 5 mins before removing the first pepper from the bag. For the best results, leave the remaining grilled peppers in the bag, removing and peeling one at a time.
Using clean fingers, gently raise the skin of the pepper at one of the sharp edges at the top or bottom. Gently and steadily, pull the skin away from the grilled flesh of the pepper. It should peel away easily as a single large piece. If it doesn’t work the first time you try, place back in the bag for a further few minutes then try again. Peel all of the peppers and place into a dish.
Dress in your preferred way while they are still hot starting with the olive oil followed by grated zest of the lemon (and a smidgen of lemon juice if you desire). Add the balsamic vinegar last. For best results allow them to settle for a good few hours, soaking up all the juiciness of your marinade or dressing.
If you marinate them overnight in the fridge in an airtight container, remove at least an hour before serving so that they can return to room temperature and all those delicious flavours will spring back to life.
Variations
The peppers can be eaten still warm if preferred, especially as part of another dish—for example, roughly chopped served simply on a bed of piping hot pasta and dressed with extra virgin olive oil and a little parmesan. Adding a few other choice ingredients such as diced pancetta, fresh anchovies or walnuts makes it particularly tasty. If using as the basis of a pasta dish, leave the balsamic vinegar out of the dressing stage.
There are almost endless variations that you can use for the dressing, especially if marinating overnight. The core elements are:
use a good palatable oil, whether extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil or even a little sesame oil if going for an Asian twist.
the vinegar element; balsamico or Japanese rice vinegar. Avoid wine, spirit or other such vinegars as they tend to turn the peppers sour. Don't overdo the vinegar if marinating for a longer period
the citrus element. Again, only add a very small amount of actual lemon or lime juice to avoid acidity. Introduce their flavours by using more zest and less juice.
Chopped herbs, chives, spring onions, capers, chillies, olive tapenade and many other dressing options all work well too
Your dressed grilled peppers can be served as a delicious side dish, as the basis for pasta dishes and chopped into salads. Another great use is as the base for quick and easy sauces for grilled chicken breast or with grilled sausages.
For a chicken sauce:
Add 1 small onion, finely chopped into a small frying pan in which you have heated some olive oil or butter
From half a cup of hot chicken stock (either fresh heated in the microwave or a diluted cube/jelly), pour about half of the stock into the pan as the onions begin to soften. Stir and allow the liquid to bubble for about 5 mins
Add your grilled peppers (cubed) and any remaining marinating liquids into the pan. Allow it to bubble and stir until the liquid begins to reduce
Add half a glass of white wine, stirring and allowing the liquid to reduce until it reaches the desired consistency. Add more of the stock in small amounts as needed. If you find that your sauce is not reducing as much as you would like, add either brown sugar or finely sifted maize flour, no more than a teaspoon at a time and it will readily thicken.
Serve over the grilled chicken breasts.
For a sauce for grilled sausages:
Use exactly the same process as above instead substituting the chicken stock with beef or vegetable stock and the white with red wine.
Naturally, you can make a vegetarian version using vegetable stock with either red or white wine to suit your dish. It makes a great sauce for vegetarian sausages, nutroast, braised red cabbage or vegetable croquettes.
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