Fresh vs. Bottled Red Bell Peppers

[rissole]

I am thinking about making the polenta recipe on the last page of the August issue, but I would prefer to use bottled roasted red bell peppers. Does anyone know how much bottled bell pepper would be equivalent to three fresh ones? Thanks for any info.

[Peggy]

rissole,

Wish I could help, but I'm not sure. I have substituted bottled peppers for fresh in the past and I usually just eyeball the pepper slices as I remove them from the jar to figure how many make up a regular sized bell pepper.

Bumping this up to the top for you in case someone else has a more accurate answer.

Peggy

[lisas3575]

I agree with Peggy; the recipe looks loose enough that it can be based on your preference. If you like roasted red peppers, use a bunch, or cut back to your preference. I'm going to try this one too! I bought the cheese today, but forgot the polenta. Dang.

[LGBurns]

I made this recipe using bottled red peppers. I definitely would use a large jar of peppers not a 7.5 oz one. I don't know an exact amount to tell you--like Peggy suggested I just eyeballed it. I found it very easy to approximate 3 peppers by just piecing together the slices from the jar into three full-size looking peppers on my cutting board. I don't think exactness is necessary with this recipe.

[DmOrtega]

I've never used the bottled peppers. I seed them, lay them as flat as possible with the skin side up, broil them as close to the broiler as I can get them. When they are nice and black, I take them out, put them into a plastic bag to steam and cool. This takes about 15 minutes. After that I pull off the black skin and they are then ready to cut and use.

[rissole]

Thanks for the helpful replies!

[amcleod]

I made this recipe just this past weekend. It was great - my husband was very wary of the whole polenta thing but I have won him over. yay!

Oh, but that wasn't your question!

I roasted my own peppers, as per the recipe. In thinking about it, roasted peppers from a bottle are somehow much thinner than the ones I made (but of course it could be the brand of bottled I buy). I liked the "bulk" of the homemade. But I think it would turn out just as well with bottled...and of course it wouldn't take as long. And of course, fresh red peppers are expensive (around here they're usually at least $4/pound), whereas I can get a bottle for $1.99!

Let us know how it turns out.

p.s. I would add more cheese next time. I used the amount they suggested.

[Ed]

Hi,

When Red Bell Peppers are in Season, (summer,) and they are low priced I like to use them fresh and roast them myself for recipes, but in the winter when they are quite expensive, or even in the summer when I'm in a time bind I will use the bottled Roasted Red Bell Peppers and they work out just fine for me.

Here is a recipe we like, and the bottled variety works good in this recipe.

If you expect to do the Preperation in 8 minutes you really gotta hustle right along, so far I haven't been able to do all the cutting and chopping and rounding up all the other ingredients in 8 minutes, for instance it usually takes me 3 minutes to go out on the deck to bring in the fresh Parsley, sometimes a little longer if I stop to look at the other herbs, and play a little with our Dog Katie. But then I'm retired and it takes people my age a little longer to do things.

Anyway it does go together fairly quick.

Ed

* Exported from MasterCook *

Roasted Red Pepper, Zucchini, and Tomato Soup With Fusilli

Recipe By :Cooking Light
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:08
Categories : Soup

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 1/2 cups uncooked fusilli (short twisted spaghetti)
1 bacon slice -- chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves -- chopped
2 cups sliced zucchini -- (1/4-inch)
2 cans fat-free -- (16-ounce)
less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 can no-salt-added diced tomatoes -- (14.5-ounce)
undrained
1 bottle roasted red bell peppers -- (7-ounce) undrained
and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese -- (1 ounce)






1. Cook pasta per package directions, omitting salt and fat.

2. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 minutes. Stir in zucchini; cook for 5 minutes. Add broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in black pepper, tomatoes, and bell peppers; cook 7 minutes. Stir in pasta and parsley. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups soup and 1 tablespoon cheese).



CALORIES 240 (23% from fat); FAT 6.2g (sat 2.5g, mono 2.1g, poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 12.2g; CARB 34.9g; FIBER 2.2g; CHOL 9mg; IRON 2.6mg; SODIUM 657mg; CALC 156mg

Start to Finish Time:
"0:20"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per serving: 53 Calories (kcal); 2g Total Fat; (39% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 5mg Cholesterol; 121mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates

NOTES : Preparation time: 8 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

[lisas3575]

Seems like I read somewhere that you can roast a big batch of red peppers when you have time and they're cheap, and freeze what you don't use...

[kbucky]

Ed, that recipe looks great...we will definitely be trying it, thanks!

[heatherfeather]

There are different types of bottled peppers. the tiny jars of sliced or diced red peppers that you usually can find in the ssame shelf as the bottledartichoke hearts are pimientos. They often have quite a bit of salt added. They are delicious and I use them often in recipes, but not as a substitute for grill-roasted peper halves. You can buy actual roasted pepper halves - check near bottled sundired tomatoes or near gourmet olives in your grocery. The roasted peper halves taste so much like what comes of my grill - they even still have a bit of the black charring . They are what I would recommend. Each piece is about 1/2 of a whole pepper. The brand I have been using most recently is "Monteverde" and they come in a huge 23.5 oz. bottle - and the bottle has three colors of peppers (yellow, red, orange). I bought mine in Costco. Since red, yellow, and orange peppers can be very expensive, I have started using the Monteverde bottled peppers a lot. They are sooooo good!

[lorilei]

I have trouble with my bottled pepper spoiling before I have a chance to use them all...

Do they not keep well (even when refrigerated)? Or am I getting a bad deal?

[Gail]

Oh, Lori...

The tales I could tell about bearded red peppers in my fridge... Ugly, blackened slimy things, sporting nasty little green-tinged beards-- disgusting!

She Who Breeds Things in the Fridge has certainly bred her number of hirsute peppers, and in no time flat, I might add. So, no. You're not getting a bad deal.

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by Gail
Oh, Lori...

The tales I could tell about bearded red peppers in my fridge... Ugly, blackened slimy things, sporting nasty little green-tinged beards-- disgusting!

She Who Breeds Things in the Fridge has certain bred her number of hirsute peppers, and in no time flat, I might add. So, no. It isn't YOU.

This is why I don't buy jarred peppers - I can never use them up before they hit the science project stage!:eek: :eek: :eek: Freshly roasted taste so much better therefore making it worth the "trouble".

[DSH]

Tried this recipe when it originally came out and loved it! (made my own peppers.) Had to laugh about the bearded ones, just threw some Hagrid-like fellas away this morning!

[memartha]

I recently purchased a large can of roasted red peppers at Trader Joe's. Since I couldn't use them all at once, I froze half of the leftovers as they were, and pureed half of the leftovers and froze them, too. I'm happy to report, both the whole and pureed peppers defrosted perfectly -- there ends the moldy pepper problem for me!

[heatherfeather]

Gosh - I usually don't have any trouble using up my opened bottled roasted peppers. Besides using them in recipes calling for roasted/grilled peppers, I toss them into salads, serve them on top of burgers (including Boca burgers on which they are great!), I puree them for vegetable soups, I cook them with scrambled eggs and olive oil for an Italian Pepper & Egg sandwich, I use them in an awesome Food Network recipe called Tuna-Olive Sandwiches (from a Cooking Live episode), the list goes on an on. I don't think a big jar lasts more than two weeks in my fridge - not from spoilage but because they get used up.

[Ohioan]

Heatherfeather (love that name!), I'm with you. I can hardly think of a meal at which I don't have red peppers in some shape or form -- although I usually use fresh ones, so I also have them raw at times.

Roasted or raw, they can go in salads, in stews, in soups, in sautées, on bugers (veggie or otherwise), in hashes, over pasta or polenta, or just plain sliced alongside other dishes, with a splash of vinegar, or a couple of capers, or a sprinkling of walnuts or pignoli, or some sliced olives, or (for fish-eaters) a criss-cross of anchovies.

Sometimes, when I've cut up some raw red peppers with a splash of balsamic vinegar to have as a side dish, I discover that I have an empty dish by the time I sit down to eat. Obviously, Goldilocks has sneaked in and eaten the peppers, since I would never snack like that while I'm cooking. (Oh, no, heaven forfend.) :p

Cheers,
Phoebe

[LGBurns]

I was having the problem of spoiled red peppers too but since have taken heatherfeather's idea and eaten them frequently once I've opened a jar. I now buy the big cans from TJs and we have them in jarred spaghetti sauce, or I make the Roasted Red Pepper Pesto pizza (or sometimes just the pesto and have it on pasta), in omelettes, etc. The only thing I don't do is have them in salad or on sandwiches. For some reason they seem slimy to me eaten cold.