by: Molly Baz
Cook Time
1 hours 40 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Yield
4 servings
@MOLLYBAZ
“These long-cooked peppers are delicious with herbs and a salty cheese, and eaten as you would a caprese salad.”
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Total Time
1 hours 40 minutes
Prep Time
10 minutes
Yield
4 servings
summary
“I have a complicated relationship with bell peppers. When they’re raw, I hate them. But give them enough time, some heat and even more olive oil and they will eventually become jammy, sweet and intoxicatingly delicious. These long-cooked peppers are delicious when paired with herbs and a salty cheese, like feta, and eaten as you would a caprese salad. But you could also spread them on sandwiches (they will take your hoagie game to the next level), toss them into salads, serve them on an antipasto platter or spoon them over a piece of chicken or fish with enormous results. They last for quite a while, since they’re essentially packed in olive oil, so make a batch or two and keep them on hand for their many uses. Just please don’t use green bell peppers in this roasted peppers recipe—even an hour of luxuriating in olive oil can’t save those godforsaken creatures.”
ingredients
- 3½ pounds mixed color (NOT green!) bell peppers (about 8)
- 1 red Fresno chile or ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 8 garlic cloves
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Kosher salt
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
- 1 (4-ounce) block feta cheese
- ½ cup basil leaves
directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Prep the vegetables
- Remove the cores of the bell peppers by cutting off 4 lobes on each, leaving behind the cores, stems and seeds.
- Cut each lobe into roughly 1½-inch-thick strips.
- Thinly slice the Fresno chile crosswise, and firmly smash and peel the garlic cloves.
Cook the peppers
- Heat the olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add the bell peppers, Fresno chile, garlic, sugar and 1 tablespoon salt to the pan, and stir and toss with tongs to combine.
- Cook until some of the peppers begin to soften a bit and turn golden brown in a few spots, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in the red wine vinegar.
- Partially cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Cook, stirring the peppers a couple of times throughout to move things around and encourage even cooking, until the peppers are very soft and jammy, 45 to 60 minutes.
- Remove the lid and cook until the peppers have caramelized in some spots and the liquid has reduced slightly, 30 to 45 minutes longer. Let cool slightly, then taste and add more vinegar, salt or sugar as needed until the peppers taste outrageously good.
Serve
- Slice the feta into ¼-inch-thick planks.
- Spoon the peppers onto a rimmed serving platter along with some of the juices.
- Break the planks of feta into pieces and scatter them over top.
- Tear the basil leaves and scatter over top.
notes
It sounds like too much oil, but there are a lot of peppers, and the juices they release are going to mingle with all that olive oil and create a super-luxurious sauce.
