Nearly every week I roast a couple of red bell peppers and garlic heads. I do this because roasting these veggies brings out the natural sweetness and flavors making meals far more satisfying and flavorful; relying less on salt, sugars, etc and thereby making it easier to prepare a healthier meal.
Last month I included a recipe for eggplant rolls that were stuffed with a ricotta, roasted red bell pepper and garlic spread (you can read the recipe here). A reader asked how to roast veggies so I wanted to share how easy it is.
Total time to roast these veggies (I do this simultaneously) takes ~30 minutes and it is far cheaper than buying roasted veggies although that is always an option if in a pinch.
STEP 1: The Prep and Roasting Preheat the oven to 400 Farenheit / 200 Celsius. Peel as much of the garlic clove as you can and chop off the top of the cloves. Put them in ramekins (or in coffee cups like I did) then drizzle olive oil and sprinkle some Italian seasoning on the top of the cloves. Wash the peppers and place them by the garlic on a tray with foil then put them in the oven. Every 9 minutes rotate the bell peppers (total cooking time 27 minutes). If the garlic browns faster, pull them out.
The garlic are perfect once you take them out of the oven and can be used so many ways. You know the garlic is perfectly roasted when it appears slightly browned (see above photo). The smell will be absolutely heavenly.
STEP 2: Resting and Peeling The peppers will require one more step. When you pull the peppers out of the oven, let them rest for 10-15 minutes because they are full of oil/liquid that is scalding. If properly roasted they will look like the photograph I’ve included and the skin will peel off very easily (see below). Peeling off the skin will leave a tender, sweet vegetable that you may use. Be sure to also remove the stem and seeds on the inside. I immediately put the roasted peppers in a container with the oily liquid that can be used when cooking or to drizzle on salads.
BosGuy 
Regarding garlic – slightly crushed cloves in a brine with dill and cucumber for pickling. The garlic tastes awesome, so to the pickles! Fermentation rocks!
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I owe you a G – roasting is wonderful. Knowing how to spell is even better. 🙂
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Roastin is wonderful – brings out a very special flavor.
You may also want to to brine – you can do it not only on fruits and veggies for canning – but also a lot of meats – mostly fowl (cunard, domestic cock, turkey, geese)
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