Oven Peppas
July 19, 2010
Oven roasted sweet Italian green and red peppers at nearly every meal. That's the idea, anyway.
Last summer at the Hobin family reunion in East Greenwich, RI, we watched a New England Irish-Italian family really work out the food. The array of side dishes and platters of salads and seafood and very not-Nashville delights was stunning. As you might expect from a clan of well-heeled partiers, the Hobins had reunion operations completely under control.
Loaded beach coolers lined the pool and they even had one of those retro chrome bar coolers that you slide open the door and reach down into, like a vendor cooler, with a side-mounted bottle opener. Rhode Islanders know how to throw a party.
All the guys were busy cooking the usual on the grills. Inside the gals were laying out the gigantic platters. Hidden among them was our favorite little dish: the fried red and green peppers. A little oily savory sweet bite that goes with everything.
Wouldn’t you know it! Soon as we got home to Nashville we went to a dinner party where our friend Joan Dibaggio brought a little dish of fried peppers to go with whatever we were eating. Don’t recall a thing about the meal, just Joan’s peppers. She said: “My mother always made these when I was growing up in Ohio. They go with everything.”
Oven Roasted Peppas
Bell peppers, cored and cut into thin strips
Olive oil
Salt
Heat the oven to 400 F. Lay the peppers out on a baking sheet. Toss with oil and salt. Roast about 30 minutes or until soft and slightly browned. Cool. Serve at room temperature. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
Serve them with any simple grilled dinner, on a sandwich or burger or sausage, with a salad, anything. Open the fridge and grab a couple for a snack.
Get tips for making perfect skillet cornbread. It's the only bread to serve with summer fresh vegetable suppers. 
