Name: Roasted Bell Peppers in Creamy Tomato Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 6 bell peppers (red or yellow); 17-18 oz tomatoes (ripe); 7 oz sour cream; 1 yellow onion; 2-3 cloves garlic; 3-4 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp pepper; 1/2 tsp paprika; 1/2 tsp granulated garlic; 6 sheets aluminum foil (to wrap the bell peppers)

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Roasted bell peppers in creamy tomato sauce is an aperitif suitable for any occasion and for any time of the year. The creamy sauce made out of tomatoes and sour cream makes a perfect base for the roasted peppers.

Today I will share with you a finger-licking dish. I call it so because you will literally dip in a loaf of crusty bread in the creamy sauce and lick your fingers when you’re done eating. This recipe reminds me of the summers when I was a kid. As the tomato season was coming, I asked my mother to prepare the “pepper stew”, I could eat it every day. This dish takes me back to my childhood every time I cook it, and I am happy to share this recipe with you. Hopefully, some of you will find a new favorite meal.

Besides being very tasty, the recipe is undemanding and can be prepared in big proportions and stored in the fridge. As a matter of fact, I have a tradition with my mother, we gather in her kitchen and cook this pepper stew then store it. We usually gossip while cooking, sip from a nice glass of wine, and simply enjoy one’s other company. It is a kind of ritual me and my mother have which I simply adore and hope to transmit the same cooking values and tradition to my own little daughter.

In this article, I will share with you all my knowledge about this family-tradition dish. You will get to know how to roast peppers in the oven, how to peel the peppers, and how to prepare the tomato sauce with sour cream. I promise it’s nothing you can’t deal with. Moreover, I’m sure you’ll love the recipe and re-do it whenever you have some beautiful fresh peppers and some ripe tomatoes.

What are the best peppers to roast?

When choosing peppers to roast, it is important to look at the shape, to choose them so that they are not very deformed. Bell peppers should not have many depths while kapia ones should be straight and without many depths. The more uniform the shape is, the easier they will leave their skin when roasted.

How to roast peppers in the oven?

There are several methods to roast peppers, and I’ve tried most of them and stopped to this final one. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and wash the bell peppers. Wrap each pepper in aluminum foil and place it on the baking tray. Insert the tray into the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. I like this method best because they cook faster and cook uniformly. The aluminum foil heats from the oven and preserved the steam inside, as a result, the peppers cook faster and the skin comes off easier.

How to peel baked peppers easily?

Once you take out the bell peppers from the oven you need to unwrap the aluminum foil from each of the peppers. Put the peppers in a bowl, sprinkle some salt on top and cover with food film. Let them rest for about 10 minutes. Then, hold the pepper with your left hand and peel it with the right. Then place them on a cutting board, split them along with a knife and remove their backs. Gently scrape the seeds with the back of the knife. Finally, collect the clean strips of roasted peppers in a clean container.

Do not rinse the baked peppers under running water because you will lose much of their taste and aroma. Now the peppers are ready to be dipped in the delicious creamy tomato sauce and served.

Tip: Baked and peeled peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in a closed plastic bag or box. You have time to decide what to further prepare from them.

How to make the creamy tomato sauce?

The tomato sauce is the base of this dish and when cooked properly, it is insanely good and aromatic. Ripe tomatoes make great sauces. Luckily I had the chance to live in Italy for a couple of years and had the great opportunity to explore their authentic cuisine. Italians are very picky when it comes to their “salsa di pomodoro”, their cook it with much dedication and balance the taste to perfection.

Following their example, I stole their little secrets and improved my recipe. The first rule is to use ripe tomatoes, the ones that are sweet and juicy. By choosing the perfect tomatoes you ensure your tomato sauce success. Also, it is imperative to enrich the taste with onion and garlic sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil. Honestly speaking, using sunflower oil or any other oil for the tomato sauce is considered a crime.

My dear friend prepared the tomato sauce in instant pot and it perfectly fits this roasted pepper recipe. You can as well cook the sauce in a regular pan on the stove. Just follow the instructions and add the sour cream in the end. Saute the finely chopped onion and garlic in olive oil. Cut the tomatoes in halves and add them to the pot halves down, in about 3 minutes take them out of the pot and peel the tomatoes. Add them back to the pot and crush them with a spatula. Close the pot with a lid and let saute for about 15 minutes. Don’t forget to stir occasionally and to season with salt, pepper, some paprika, and granulated garlic.

Finally, add the sour cream and mix. The delicious creamy sauce is ready. Now add in the slices of roasted bell peppers and let simmer all together for additional 1-2 minutes.

How to serve the roasted bell peppers in creamy tomato sauce?

Serve the roasted bell peppers in the creamy sauce as soon as it is ready. However, the great part of this recipe is that it can be served cold as well. Dip in a crunchy slice of bread and eat it with your hands, isn’t it delicious?