Pepper

Carla Lalli Music's Slow-Roasted Mixed Peppers

by:
March 25, 2019
4
5 Ratings
Carla Lalli Music's Slow-Roasted Mixed Peppers
Photo by Gentl and Hyers
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

"Pan-roasting is hot and fierce. Slow-roasting is low and slow. One major advantage of slow-roasting is simplicity. Anything you can braise—short ribs, pork shoulder, lamb shoulder—you can slow-roast with a fraction of the effort. Unlike braising, you can skip the initial browning (which could take 20 minutes for a hefty cut, like brisket), you don't need a ton of aromatics to infuse the liquid, and you don't need a large volume of stock, or any wine, for that matter. Although slow-roasting essentially is a dry-heat method, it's gentle, and the finished succulent texture is similar to what you'd get with a braise. Meats become shreddable and moist, internal fats and collagen melted into tenderness. Slow-roasting coaxes tough-skinned winter squash into total submission (no peeling, no chopping), yields whole heads of cauliflower soft enough to eat with a spoon, gives whole chickens a rotisserie-esque texture, caramelizes and concentrates juicy things like fennel or sweet peppers, and is the most facile and impressive way to cook large fillets of fish."

Reprinted from Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes To Make You a Great Cook. Copyright © 2019 by Carla Lalli Music. Photographs copyright © 2019 Gentl and Hyers. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. —Food52

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: How Changing the Way I Grocery Shop Has Made Me a Better Cook —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pound mixed bell peppers (red, yellow, orange), about 5 medium or 3 large, stemmed, seeded, and halved
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 lemon, halved, for squeezing on top
  • 1 drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
Directions
  1. Season peppers aggressively with kosher salt and pepper. 1 teaspoon of salt per pound is my standard measure. This can be done 1 to 2 days ahead; refrigerate, uncovered.
  2. Preheat oven to 250°F. Place the peppers in a vessel that holds them snugly; they will shrink quite a bit while cooking, and too much empty space could lead to overbrowning, dryness, and a tough cleanup job. Add the ¼ cup water to the pot, which will throw off a little steam to start the cooking process.
  3. Cover the pot, transfer to the oven, and go take a nap. Set an alarm for 1 hour.
  4. Cook until the peppers are extremely tender but not dried out. If desired, continue cooking, uncovered, to brown surface, 20 to 30 minutes.
  5. Serve this delectable-ness with lots of fresh lemon juice squeezed over, more salt and pepper for seasoning, and a drizzle of olive oil, unless there are plenty of pan juices lying about, in which case you should spoon those over.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Cheryl
    Cheryl
  • Marshall Penelope
    Marshall Penelope
  • linzarella
    linzarella
  • Brinda Ayer
    Brinda Ayer

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8 Reviews

Cheryl
Cheryl October 8, 2019
I liked these, particularly the ease of peeling off the skins. I needed to cook them much longer--perhaps an hour longer.
 
Marshall P.
Marshall P. June 1, 2019
I threw some garlic cloves in with the peppers, spread it all on homemade tortillas. Oh man, so good.
 
heather
heather April 10, 2019

For health reasons, I have to limit salt. How essential is the salt? Is it there for flavor or is it fundamental to the slow-cooking process? If so, how much is necessary?
 
Brinda A.
Brinda A. April 11, 2019
The salt is most essential for flavor, but also helps draw the moisture out of the peppers and helps it caramelize. I would use a small pinch to season (a little goes a long way), and maybe cook the peppers for a little longer, uncovered, than you would if you used more salt. Hope this helps!
 
heather
heather June 1, 2019
thank you, Brinda.
 
linzarella
linzarella April 7, 2019
I cooked the peppers in a deep baking dish covered tightly with tin foil. After an hour and 20 minutes, the peppers were getting softer but hadn't shrunk down at all, and definitely didn't look anything close to how they do in the photo, with those nice shriveled skins. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
 
Brinda A.
Brinda A. April 7, 2019
Hi linzarella! It sounds to me like there was probably still a good bit of moisture left in the peppers. Two potential fixes: 1) There might have been a little too much water in the pan when you were slow-roasting (perhaps from extra-juicy peppers!), so it could be helpful to pour a little less in next time during the steaming stage, or 2) The peppers probably needed a little time without the foil cover so that their moisture could totally evaporate. Other than that, is your oven ever a bit temperamental (no pun intended—but I ask because mine is VERY)? It might not have gotten up to the right temperature, in which case a cheapo oven thermometer (more details here: https://food52.com/blog/23888-best-cdn-oven-thermometer-most-accurate-amazon) might help get you to a more accurate temp. Hope any/all of these work! Please let me know if you try this preparation again!
 
linzarella
linzarella April 12, 2019
I actually already have an oven thermometer and was using it … I ended up taking the cover off and cooking a lot longer and it came out luscious and amazing! Would definitely make again, playing around with the amount of water in the pan and cooking time :)