Peppers: Canned Roasted

One thing I have been wanting to make is roasted canned peppers.  I grew up having these as part my family's normal antipasto plate before any large holiday or important meal (my grandmother is from a large Italian family).  Occasionally we buy the canned roasted peppers from Trader Joe's, but with the Great Pepper Harvest of 2010 I had the opportunity to try my hand at a homemade version.  While roasting may take a few times to get the hang of, the process is quite forgiving, the results rustic and delicious.

ingredients:

• about 10-20 peppers (I used our Russian Healthy peppers, Chocolate Beauties, Violet Bella and an unknown small orange variety)
• 1 cup good olive oil
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic (plus 1 extra per jar)
• 1 Tbl salt
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I used chopped dried red Shishito peppers from my office's vegetable garden)
• fresh oregano or basil (I used "Hot & Spicy" oregano from our garden)

method:

• Place your peppers on a baking sheet and roast at about 400 degrees for about 30 min or until blistered and blackened turning once.  Place in a brown paper grocery bag, or covered bowl or similar to steam and cool - about 20 min.

• While this is going on you can cleanup a bit, boil your canning jars, and get the canning mixture prepared.

• Now comes the messy part: pealing those peppers.  Don't be so concerned about having perfect results, just try to get the seeds and as much of the skin or tough bits off.  I had good luck with the larger red peppers while much more difficulty with the smaller orange ones.  These were much thinner and had less"meat".  I pealed what I could but left most the skin on (and they turned out great).

• Place a pounded clove of garlic (I hit once with the bottom of my fist) in each canning jar and pack with peppers leaving some room for the canning liquid.

• Heat oil, vinegar, chopped garlic, salt, herbs and red pepper flakes. Simmer 5 min.  Take mixture off the stove.  Stir vigorously to mix the oil and vinegar as they will separate. Be careful, its hot!

• Carefully fill each jar with the canning mixture leaving about 1/2" room at the top.  Wipe edges clean, seal and either process in a water bath for 20 min or cool and place in the fridge.

Let the flavors mingle for a few weeks (or try after a few days if you're like me and can't wait.) Enjoy on toast or with a fried egg or on a sandwich.  This is something I could definitely fill our pantry with.