Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is a fun and delicious way to add tremendous flavor to a meal. The smoky flavor from the roasted red peppers and the smoked paprika give you that warm feeling. With a touch of sherry vinegar and cream, you gain a sweet smoothness that hits a certain note for your taste buds and stomach. Use this as an alternative to tomato sauce or on its own. You’re going to love this!

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is an extremely versatile sauce that goes with just about everything. It can be used to give a meal a nice bright kick when you substitute it for tomato sauce. Use it with pasta, fish, pizza, eggs, and more, or even as a salad dressing or sandwich spread. Once you make this, you’ll see that the possibilities are endless! Get creative with it!

Roast Your Own Peppers

You can certainly use a jar of roasted red peppers to make the sauce. I was out of time one night so I used some jarred roasted red peppers. Now these are the same ones I use on my salads, so I know there was nothing wrong with them. But in this application they were so bitter. I added more vinegar, sugar (which I hate adding to anything), and lots of salt. I ended up just tossing the whole thing. So I put that meal aside for a day.

The next day I roasted my own peppers. What a difference!!!

I highly recommend roasting your own peppers. It’s not difficult at all. The sweetness you get from fresh roasted peppers can’t be matched by anything in a jar. So take the time to roast your own. And don’t worry . . . I’ll walk you through the process. You got this!

How to Roast Red Peppers

There are a few different ways to roast red peppers. You can use a grill, a gas stove top, or the broiler in your oven. I even saw a video of someone using a torch, but I’m not going there.

The best way to roast the peppers is on a grill because you get the smoky flavor easier. A gas stove top is similar so the follow instructions will work for both.

Grill and Stove Top

• Simply place the red peppers on a hot grill with the flames high. For a stove, place the peppers in the middle of the burner rack, but with the flames low. You want the skin to turn black, but not too fast. You want the fleshy part of the peppers to cook as well.
• Keep turning the peppers until they are black all over and the peppers are soft.
• Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate of plastic wrap. This will continue to steam the peppers and make the skin easier to peal.
• Once the peppers have cooled, uncover them and peal off the skin. The skin will mostly slide right off. It’s OK if there’s some little bit of the skin attached.
• Remove the center of the peppers along with the seeds. Cut them open and remove the white veins as these can be bitter.

Broiler

• This method, to me at least, is the easiest.
• Cut the peppers to remove the center stem and seeds. Cut off the white veins.
• Place the peppers on a sheet pan skin side up. Put the pan in the oven under the broiler. My broiler takes about 17-18 minutes to turn the skin black. the next steps are the same as above.
• Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate of plastic wrap to allow the peppers to steam.
• Once the peppers have cooled, uncover them and peal off the skin.

Versatility

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is such a versatile sauce. As I mentioned earlier, you can use it on many foods. My favorite is to serve it with my Creamy Polenta and some pasta or seafood. Here are a few of the dishes I’ve made with those elements (they all have micro greens because I love micro greens):

Here is our Creamy Polenta Recipe

Print

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Topping

Cuisine American

Keyword pepper sauce, roasted red peppers

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 cup

Ingredients

• 3-4 large Red Bell Peppers
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 large Shallots, sliced
• 1 clove Garlic, rough chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon Smokey Paprika
• 2 Tablespoons White Wine
• 1/2 cup Chicken Stock
• 2 Tablespoons Half and Half or heavy Cream (I use Half and Half)
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 teaspoon Sherry Vinegar or Balsamic Vinegar (I use Sherry Vinegar)
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

Instructions

Roasting Red Pepper *

1. Heat the broiler. Line a sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil or spray it with cooking spray.

2. Remove the stem and seeds from the bell peppers. Cut the pepper in 2-4 slices and remove the white veins.

3. Place the bell pepper slices on the sheet pan skin side up.

4. Place the sheet pan in the oven. Remove the tray once the skin of the peppers has turned black. Cooking time may vary, so keep an eye on them. They should be done within 10-20 minutes.

5. Put the peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate, aluminum foil, or plastic wrap.

6. Once the peppers have cooled, peal the skin off. Be sure to remove as much of the skin as possible.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add the shallots and season with a pinch of salt. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until they are soft. Add the garlic and stir for another 1-2 minutes.

3. Place the peppers in the skillet along with the smoked paprika, kosher salt, and pepper and stir.

4. Pour in the white wine and chicken stock. Allow that to cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the contents of the skillet to a blender or a processor. Add the butter, vinegar, and cream. Blend until smooth.

6. Taste the sauce. Make any needed adjustment to the salt or vinegar.

7. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 1 week.