Purée of Red (or Yellow) Peppers
15 October 2007
I first prepared a purée of red peppers several years ago, inspired by a orange-colored sauce I was served in a Spanish restaurant. I have since used this purée as a basis or a garnish for a variety of mainly fish and vegetable based starters, such as fried scallops or pancake roulades filled with salmon. Although the ingredients for this sauce are very simple I find the taste quite fine and smooth, and yet characteristic. It is well suitable as a sort of dip for a wide range of different dishes, giving them a special edge without being too dominant.
How To Do It
Slice the peppers along their long side and remove the stems and the seeds. Cook them in salt water until the peel loosens, then take them out
and let them cool down a bit so you avoid burning your fingers when you peel them. The peel should come off very easily; grip it between your
fingers and a knife and cautiously tear it off.
Then mix the peeled peppers in a blender until you get a smooth pulp. Now you can decide whether to add some crème fraîche to make it even smoother and/or some spices; you can also leave the purée just as it is, I quite like its inherent taste. It also tastes particularly nice in combination with a simple blend of olive oil and fresh basil as a second dip (the complementary colours also look very decorative).
I recently tried the same recipe with orange coloured peppers to compare with the red ones, which had a sweeter and less spicy taste, yet with more flavour than yellow peppers.
