We've been grilling like crazy the last couple of weekends. The Missus' has been craving grilled mushrooms and roasted red peppers. She'd usually make sandwiches during the week of roasted red peppers, a roasted medium-mild, yellow chili, sometimes called a Santa Fe Chili Pepper. She's drizzle on some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and some feta cheese and be good to go. On one of our grilling sessions I roasted a few extra red peppers, which I put aside to puree, which is quite versatile. You can use the puree as a sauce, or in a vinaigrette, or even as the Missus used it....as a spread for bread. Check out Judy's wonderful Food Blog Tinker with Food, for another great idea.
There are a couple of ways you can roast bell peppers, you can read a bit about it here. I usually rub some olive oil on the peppers and roast them on the grill until charred, softened, and looking a bit "deflated". I place in a large bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. I also will often wrap a couple of bulbs of garlic, excess "skin" removed, tops chopped to reveal the cloves, covered with a bit of olive oil, in aluminum foil, and place in the "indirect heat" portion of my grill to roast. Conversely, you can roast garlic in the oven. Anyway, I've already typed in too many words for something so easy to make.
Roasted Garlic and Red Bell Pepper Puree:
3-4 large roasted bell peppers, charred skin removed, cut into sections.
1 bulb of roasted garlic
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (more as necessary)
Salt to Taste.
- Remove the roasted garlic cloves from the bulb by holding the bottom of the bulb, and squeezing.
- Place roasted bell peppers, roasted garlic, and olive oil in a blender and puree to desired thickness. Drizzle in more olive oil if necessary.
- Remove puree, taste, add salt, and stir briefly by hand to mix.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups. I also let the puree sit about 1 hour to "set".
On this night, I threw together a quick meal. Inexpensive sashimi grade scallops from Nijiya were seared, and plated on a good amount of the puree.
I topped off the scallops with wasabi tobiko, and sprinkled crushed oregano and ground red chili powder to garnish.......
To make a vinaigrette, simply replace the usual amount of mustard, or whatever emulsifier) with the red pepper puree.
such pretty platting makes the dish look just as good as it sounds.
Posted by: Lynnea | Sunday, 02 August 2009 at 11:28 PM
BEAUTIFUL job Kirk! *drooooool*
thanks for the mention ;)!!!
Posted by: Judy Lee | Sunday, 02 August 2009 at 11:44 PM
love roasted red pepper :) this sounds and looks really good!
Posted by: kat | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 12:20 AM
Hi Lynnea - Thanks...this is real easy to make.
Hi Judy - I hope everyone checks out your food blog.
Hi Kat - Not to mention easy!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 07:30 AM
Looks so vibrant and flavorful. BTW, did you see the Union-Trib's Best Of for Asian restaurants? PFChang's? Seriously...
Posted by: liver | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 07:37 AM
Very nice plating! Makes me a little angry about the amount I spent at the Wine Sellar this weekend for Scallops. But...it was an anniversary.
Thanks for the idea though.
Posted by: Janfrederick | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 08:17 AM
Great looking scallops.
Posted by: ed (from Yuma) | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 08:54 AM
Hi Liver - Considering the source, I'm not surprised. I'm sure Pick up Stix and maybe Pei Wei made in on the list as well.....heck, maybe even Panda Country???? You wonder why SD gets a bad rap/rep.
Hi Jan - Thanks! Happy anniversary....if that's not a great reason to splurge.....
Hi Ed - This was an easy one, though I think white meat chicken/fish would do fine.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 10:16 AM
Oh, love roasted red bell peppers. Love them on sandwiches, too. I'm goin to try your puree recipe next time I pick up a few extra ones. Sounds delicious!
hehe, Kirk, you hit it the nail on the nose. All 3 you mentioned made it to the top 10 list, unbelieveable. I nearly spat out my coffee when I saw Panda Country.
Posted by: Carol | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 10:42 AM
Good God Carol - That last Panda Country remark was kind of just a joke...... I've got to find that list....well, maybe I shouldn't!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 03 August 2009 at 04:06 PM
I like to red pepper sauce whole wheat pasta and roasted broccoli, maybe with some sausage and black olives if I have them. ("Sauce" is a verb, right?) Really good, and pretty quick to put together on a weeknight. I never thought to use it with seafood, so I'll have to try that next! I have three peppers in the fridge right now, and some 12 count Gulf shrimp in the freezer, hmmm!
Posted by: Amy | Thursday, 06 August 2009 at 06:36 PM
Hi Amy - Olives sound like a nice touch.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 07 August 2009 at 08:35 AM