Piperies Florinis, Greek Roasted Red Peppers
Roasted red peppers turn up as a meze all across the northern Greek mainland, where the prized pepper is the long, sweet Florina from Macedonia, roasted over coals and sold in jars. The dish is simple to the point of being a technique more than a recipe: char, steam, peel, and dress. What matters is charring the skin hard so it lifts away and taking care to save the juices that pool as the peppers rest, because that sweet liquid, cut with vinegar and raw garlic, is the seasoning that stands in for salt. A red bell pepper works when Florina peppers are out of reach, though it is a touch less sweet, so lean on ripe, heavy peppers. Make it ahead; a day in the fridge lets the garlic and vinegar settle into the flesh.
Ingredients
- 4 wholes Bell peppers, red
- 2 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp Dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, ground
Method
- Roast the whole peppers under a hot broiler or over a gas flame, turning them, until the skins are blackened and blistered all over, about 12 minutes. Charring the skin is what lets you pull it off cleanly and, more than that, it is where the smoky-sweet flavor of the dish comes from. In Greece the fat, sweet Florina pepper is used; a red bell is the closest thing on most shelves.
- Put the hot peppers in a bowl and cover it tightly for 10 minutes. Trapped steam loosens the skins from the flesh so they slip off with your fingers, no knife and no rinsing, which would wash away the roasted flavor.
- Peel, stem, and seed the peppers over the bowl to catch their juices, then tear them into wide strips. Keep every drop of the juice; it is sweet and smoky and becomes the base of the dressing.
- Toss the strips and their juice with the sliced garlic, vinegar, oregano, and black pepper. Let it sit at least 20 minutes. The raw garlic softens in the acid and the peppers drink up the vinegar, so the dish tastes seasoned without salt.
- Fold in the parsley just before serving. Serve at room temperature as a meze, piled on a plate with beans or a grain. It keeps four days in the fridge and only improves.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 60 calories, 2 g protein, 3 g fiber, 15 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
