You may associate roasted red peppers with Italian Cuisine, but guess what? Moroccans recognize their great taste as well, and infact roasted red pepper salad is a classic Moroccan dish. No array of Moroccan salads would be complete without this one! It's simple to make, and served in small quantities, so while four or so peppers doesn't yield a great deal of salad, that's okay, it's not meant to be eaten in quantity! One thing is certain, once these peppers find their way onto your table, you'll want to make them every week!
Ingredients:
- red peppers (called gamba in Moroccan)
- olive oil
- garlic
- salt
- parsley (optional)
Preparation:
- Pre-heat oven to grill on highest temperature possible
- Wash and dry peppers
- Place peppers on oven tray, and grill, turning several times, when necessary
- When skin has bubbled and peppers are slightly black (I overdid it a bit in this photo, but you get the idea?) remove peppers from oven.
- Place in paper bag to cool for easier peeling.
- Peel peppers of all outside skin, cut open and remove seeds
- Cut peppers in strips
- Chop garlic, about 1 clove per pepper, into tiny pieces. I prefer not to use a garlic press, as I prefer the tiny hard pieces of garlic, but that's just me, feel free to press away!
- Add just enough olive oil to lightly coat the peppers, and salt to taste.
- For an even more beautiful presentation, add a small amount of chopped parsley for color.
- Note: This salad can be made using a mixture of red and green peppers, and even yellow ones if you wish, but I think the all red salad looks the most delicious.
- Serve with some good crisp bread as an appetizer, or together with an array of Moroccan salads before the fish course. Enjoy!
Note: Many cooks roast red peppers directly over the flame on the stove top. This will impart a smokier taste to the peppers, but makes quite a mess, so I prefer to do it in the oven. You decide what works for you!
