Red Pepper Paste
A staple in our kitchen that creates the flavorful base in numerous Armenian recipes.
Ingredients
- 6 large red bell peppers
- ½ tsp. cayenne pepper (Add more if you want extra heat, but be careful!)
- 1 tsp. salt
- olive oil
Instructions
- Wash the peppers and remove the seeds, and white membrane.
- Coarsely chop the peppers.
- Grind peppers in a food processor, using the metal S-blade. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the peppers. This is a very important step!
- Spread the ground peppers in a large non-stick skillet, stir in the salt and cayenne pepper, and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a simmer, cook, stirring periodically for about 45 minutes, or until the pepper mixture begins to resemble a thick paste. Allow mixture to cool.
- Spoon the red pepper paste into small, sterilized jars. Pour a little olive oil over the top of the paste. Cover tightly, and refrigerate.
- At this point you can freeze the red pepper paste. The trick is to use plastic ice cube trays. Place about a tablespoonful of paste in each ice cube compartment.
- Place trays in freezer; freeze until red pepper cubes are frozen. Remove red pepper paste cubes from tray and place them in a freezer-safe resealable plastic bag. When ready to use, remove the number of red pepper paste cubes you need and defrost in the refrigerator. Keep the other “cubes” frozen until needed.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!