Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Phew! I found that little slip of paper I had written the roasted red pepper sauce formula on! Red bell peppers were 89¢ each at the Piggly Wiggly today so it's time for another freezer-stocking project!

Freshly roasted red peppers are one of life's great pleasures. They are smooth and sweet and bear absolutely no resemblance to jarred red peppers. And they go on or in anything! Fish, pasta, potatoes, chicken, you name it! Frozen, red pepper sauce keeps that wonderful flavor around to be used at a moment's notice.

The pictures are from an 8-pepper (quadruple) batch.

Ingredients: 2 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled 1/4 cup white wine 1/4 cup chicken broth 1 medium red sweet onion, roughly chopped 1 Tbl. olive oil 1 Tbl. minced garlic
Procedure for roasting the peppers: Preheat the oven broiler and move a rack to within 4 inches or so from the element or flames Line a cookie sheet with foil. Cut the red peppers in half and remove the stem, seeds, and whitish membranes. Place the pepper halves skin side up on the foil and press them with the palm of your hand to flatten them. They will break a bit as you flatten them and will not lie completely flat.
Broil the peppers until the skin is almost totally black char but the meat is still moist. Keep the door of the oven ajar so the broiler element will stay on. These were broiled for 10 minutes, turning the tray half way through.
Remove from the oven and gather the foil up around the peppers to form a sealed sack to steam them.
When the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the skin from the meat of the pepper. At this point, the roasted peppers are ready for use. I usually slice them into narrow strips. If moved to a sealed plastic bag, they will keep in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.
Procedure for the coulis (sauce): Sweat the chopped onion in olive oil until translucent and starting to carmelize. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Pour the wine into the pan and stir to deglaze. Simmer to reduce the wine by half.
Add the roasted and peeled peppers and stock. Simmer 10 more minutes to thicken. When cool enough to do so, purée
The red pepper sauce can be served hot or cold. It will keep refrigerated for several days. It can also be frozen in meal-sized amounts for later use. It's bright red and pretty and tasty and will impress the heck out of your friends.