Easy Roasted Pepper Sauce Recipe

During a recent trip to North Africa, I learned that people stay healthy and trim by eating light and healthy all year long. One of the most delightful things I ate during my travels was the roasted green pepper sauce served as an appetizer with almost every meal. Green peppers contain healthy doses of vitamin C, A and B that boost your immune system and help you ward off colds and flu. You can purchase green peppers at the supermarket year round, even if you don’t life in a warm climate. Buy your green peppers and other ingredients at farmer’s markets during the summer for the ultimate taste explosion. Or better yet, grow them in your own garden.

Ingredients

3 large green peppers

1 large tomato

1 whole clove garlic

1 chicken or vegetarian soup cube

Salt to taste

Roasting

Green pepper sauce’s signature smoky taste comes from the charring necessary to remove the green pepper’s skin. In the Mediterranean region, everyone has their way of loosening the skin: some people grill the peppers outside on an open fire and others deep fry the peppers in oil. To keep the calorie count down, don’t coat your green peppers with oil before roasting.

Raise the rack in your oven as high as it’ll go, place the green peppers on the rack and turn on the broiler feature. Place a baking sheet on a lower rack under the green peppers to catch any juices that run off. Use tongs and oven mitts to protect your hands, and turn the green peppers as the skin chars. Each side takes about three to five minutes to char. Remove the green peppers from the oven and let them cool when charred on all sides.

Skinning

Lift the charred skin off the green peppers. Remove the seeds and place the skinless, roasted green pepper flesh on a cutting board. Dice the flesh and set it aside. You don’t need to refrigerate the peppers unless you plan to make your dip the following day.

Prepare the tomato by bringing a pot of water to a rapid boil. Score the tomato top with an “X.” Lower it into the boiling water for no more than 45 seconds. Submerging the tomato in boiling water loosens the skin. Run tap water over the tomato to cool it down. Peel off the tomato skin and remove the seeds. Dice the tomato and set it aside.

Finishing

To finish the sauce, heat a table spoon of extra virgin olive oil in sauté pan. Peel one whole garlic clove and add it to the sauce pan when the oil gets hot. You don’t need to chop the garlic. You just want it to add a mild flavor. Add the diced, roasted green peppers, tomato and one soup cube to the sauce pan. Soup cubes add a rich flavor to the dip. Reduce your stove heat to medium and continue to stir the sauce for five to seven minutes. Serve the sauce cool with a basket of bread or use it as a light, flavor-packed topping for grilled fish and chicken.