Who says you can’t have classy hors d’oeuvres without company? No need to throw a party (or attend one) just to get a taste of the vibrant flavors of your favorite appetizer. This recipe combines roasted red pepper with spiced goat cheese. You can serve it cold or warmed up in the oven prior to serving (to yourself, that is). If you do indeed want to share, just double, triple or quadruple this recipe.
Red pepper, how I love thee roasted. I love the texture, the sweetness, and the versatility of red pepper when it is cooked. I also enjoy the charring process.
The glowing benefits of the red pepper:
- is a great source of carotenoids, vitamin C, and vitamin E (antioxidants)
- contains more than twice the amount of vitamin C that is found in the same serving size of oranges
- has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory benefits
- protects vision
- wards off arthritis
- reduces cardiovascular disease, colon cancer and lung cancer
- is used in traditional Chinese medicine as a natural treatment for blood circulation, indigestion, loss of appetite, swelling, frostbite, nausea, vomiting, and phlegm and toxicities
I’m convinced. Now, let’s use it.
Roasted Red Pepper & Spiced Goat Cheese Roll
Ingredients (Serves 1)
- 2 red peppers, roasted
- 3 tbsp goat cheese
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- Olive oil and pepper for garnish
Instructions
Roast or char the red pepper until the skin is dramatically black. Immediately seal in a paper bag and wait until the peppers cool. Remove them from the bag and under a running water, massage the skin off the red pepper. It will come off easily. Next, remove the stems and seeds, slicing the peppers down the middle, allowing them to lie flat and open, insides exposed.
Slice the open roasted red pepper wherever you see a white flesh line.
For the goat cheese filling, mash 3 tbsp goat cheese and 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper, red pepper flakes and oregano each. The goat cheese will be easier to mix if it has been sitting outside the refrigerator for a bit and has reached room temperature.
Roll small teaspoon-sized goat cheese balls and place each one at the thinnest tip of the red pepper slices.
Delicately roll the thinnest tip over the cheese balls and to the other end of the red pepper.
Roll the rest…
Serve with a drizzle of high quality extra-virgin olive oil and a dash of pepper.
Bon Appetit!
xo Aylin
