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.