Roasted Peppers – S’lata Mashwiya

Shake it in a jar, microwave it, give it a big smash with a large knife… There are many tricks to peeling garlic, but I have never seen anyone do it like my Savta (grandma) did…

The amazing scent of roasting peppers takes me back to my Savta’s kitchen, I see her flowered dress and she is standing, doing something over the kitchen counter. I lean on her dress and on my tippy toes; I see her skilled hands peeling the skin off beautiful colored roasted peppers. She turns to me and smiles, “You see…” she says as she takes the garlic cloves “…this is how you peel a garlic clove”. Using a small knife she carefully cuts the base off and shows me how to create a little slit right onto the side of the clove. Like a magic trick the shell comes right off.

Here is another excellent Tunisian salad “S’lata Mashwiya”. “Mashwiya”, which literally means “on the fire” or “burnt”, refers to roasted. Roasting has its own magic to transform flavor and to get the best out of taste. I made one little twist to this traditional salad and replaced the lemon juice with balsamic vinegar.

Check out the delicious results…

You will need:

3 large Red Bell Peppers

2 Garlic cloves

1 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

1 tbsp. Olive Oil

½ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Black Pepper

Let’s get to work!

Wash the bell peppers and arrange on a flat tray lined up with aluminum foil.

Set the oven on high broil and roast the peppers.

We are trying to achieve burnt skin onto our peppers to get the best flavor for this salad.

Use tongs to rotate the peppers every few minutes so they will get evenly roasted. All together this may take 20-25 minutes, but just keep an eye and nose on them; you will know when it is time to rotate the peppers by the aroma and the color.

When the peppers are mostly black and wrinkled they are ready.

Take them out of the oven and while hot use tongs to transfer them to a sealed plastic bag.

Make sure the bag is sealed well.

You can take a little coffee break, these roasted peppers need to steam in the sealed bag for about 20 minutes. This will make taking off the skin the easiest task ever.

Time to peel the peppers. After steaming in the sealed bag, you really don’t have to work very hard – the skin comes right off.

Remove the seeds, stem and connecting pieces. You may have a few stubborn seeds stick to your hands or pepper; you can always wash your hands, but whatever you do- DO NOT WASH THE PEPPERS! Washing the peppers will take away from their wonderful roasted flavor and we don’t want that.

Lay the clean roasted meaty parts of the peppers on top of each other and cut into thin stripes.

Just like that…

Move the stripes to a container or a bowl.

Mince the garlic

Add the garlic to the roasted peppers.

Add balsamic vinegar spices and olive oil and mix well or shake gently in a sealed container.

S’lata Mashwiya is ready!

A little known secret:

The longer the salad sits in the refrigerator the more intense the flavors will be come…

This yummy salad will be gone quickly, but just so you know: if kept in a sealed and clean container it can last in the refrigerator a little over a week.

Being a huge sandwich fan, I use these roasted peppers in sandwiches or on some sort of bread along with cheese or olives as a very yummy appetizer. This salad can also be a great topping and can add a lot of flavor to a fish dish or your stake and mash potatoes….

Taste it and you’ll know what to do 🙂

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Quick Recipe:

Roasted Peppers S’lata Mashwiya-

Roast the Peppers in high broiler oven.

Rotate the Peppers in the oven for equal roasting.

Seal the hot roasted peppers in a plastic bag for 20 minutes.

Peel the peppers and remove seeds.

Slice roasted peppers into thin stripes.

Add minced Garlic, Vinegar, Olive Oil, Salt and Black Pepper.

Mix well or shake gently in a container.