How To Roast a Red Bell Pepper (pimentos)

It is so easy to roast your own red peppers to make pimentos and they taste better as well!  What you absolutely have to have though, is an open flame.  Yes, you need either a grill with flames, (no electric anything), or the eye of a gas top stove, which works just as well, and is how I roast my red peppers.

Here's what you need:

1 whole red bell pepper washed and dried with a cloth.  Do not cut the stem off or slice it open.
1 brown paper bag (what you use for a sack lunch)
Eye of a gas stove or charcoal/propane grill
Tongs 

After washing and drying your whole red bell pepper, place the bell pepper on the iron of your gas stove or on a grill with flames that reach the pepper.  If you are using the eye of your stove you can place the pepper on the iron and then turn the eye on.  Adjust the flame making sure it is high enough to burn the sides of the pepper.  Allow the pepper to be totally blackened on all sides and the top and bottom, being especially careful to keep an eye on the pepper;  it will cause small flecks of soot to escape as it blackens the skin.  This will require you to use tongs to turn the pepper as the skin blackens.
As it is roasting, your kitchen will be filled with the most fabulous aroma!

Once the pepper is totally roasted, remove it from the flames and drop it into a brown paper bag.  Roll the open end of the bag down tightly using a clothes pin or clip to keep it closed.  Place the bag on a plate and allow the pepper to cool completely before using it.  If you don't plan to use the roasted pepper immediately, once the pepper has cooled, place it in the refrigerator for later use.

To use your pepper, simply take it out of the paper bag and wash all the blackened skin off under running water.  It comes off very easily once it is cooked.  Slice the pepper open and remove the stem, seeds and membrane leaving the rest of the pepper intact.  Cut the pepper up in long thin slices and then chop it up for use in your recipes.  :D

I have a few dips that I will post if anyone is interested.  Bon Appetit~