My pepper plants this year have been disappointing. They struggled with tiny white bugs for several weeks, finally recovering at the end of July. The plants still look a little stressed, but they are producing some fruit. In spite of all the struggles, yesterday I was able to harvest about a dozen peppers. This is a fraction of last year's harvest, but I'll take what I can get.
Here is how I prepare the peppers for freezing. Pour a couple tablespoons olive oil on a baking sheet. Place the whole peppers on the pan along with a quartered onion and a few garlic cloves. Roast at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut the stem end, slice the peppers open and scrape out the seeds. Lay the sections of pepper flat on the baking sheet and flash freeze for an hour or so. Use a spatula to remove from the frozen pan, and zip them into a freezer bag. Now you have peppers ready to use all winter in soups and stews. Yummy!
Peppers are also one of the few things you can simply freeze - no preparation needed beyond sticking them in a bag! ( Putting Food By by Janet Green is my favorite place to look this stuff up. )
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion. I've heard of that book before---and now I'd better check it out!
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