How to Roast and Skin Peppers

Roasting Peppers Over an Open Flame

Roasted peppers add wonderful flavor to a number of Moroccan salads and other dishes, such as:

• Salade Mechouia
• Roasted Pepper Salad
• Taktouka — Cooked Tomato and Green Pepper Salad
• Zaalouk of Roasted Peppers and Eggplant

You can roast a pepper over an open flame such as shown here — or even directly on an electric burner — but you might prefer to use a broiler if roasting several or more peppers.

Roasting Over a Flame

To roast peppers over a flame, lay the peppers on the burner grate over the fire, or you can use skewers or tongs to hold them. Turn to char the skin on all sides.

Once the pepper is blackened, rub or scrape off the charred skin, cut the pepper open and discard the seeds. The roasted pepper will be more flavorful if you don't rinse it with water.

Broiler Method

You can roast a lot of peppers at one time using the broiler method.

Start by cutting the peppers in half lengthwise. Discard the seeds, and place the peppers skin side up on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Place Peppers Under the Broiler

Place the peppers as close as possible to the broiler flame or heating element.

In this picture, you can see I've raised the oven rack to its uppermost position.

Burn and Blister the Skin

Broil until the skins are dark and blistered. This will probably take 10 to 15 minutes but will vary from broiler to broiler.

Wrap the Peppers in Foil

You can immediately scrape or peel off the burned skin, but you might prefer to do this instead — while the roasted peppers are still hot, wrap aluminum foil loosely around them and allow them to sit for 10 minutes or longer; the peppers will "sweat" in the trapped steam, making the blistered skin easy to remove.

Peel off the Skin

After the peppers have cooled in the foil, you can remove the skin.

Pinch a section of the blistered skin and lift upwards. Large pieces of skin will peel off.

Roasted Peppers With the Skin Removed

Here are the roasted and skinned peppers. Now you're ready to use the peppers in a recipe.

Try this Moroccan classic: Tomato and Roasted Pepper Salad.