Name: Massa de Pimento- Red Pepper Paste
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 615 min
Ingredients: 6 large Red bell peppers; 2 tbsp Kosher salt or coarse sea salt; 2 cloves Cloves garlic; ¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil

Massa de pimento is essentially a red pepper paste used to enhance sauces, meats, fish and vegetables. This uniquely Portuguese paste originated in the Alentejo region by using the abundance of sweet red peppers, salt and sunshine available. After a few days of fermenting in the sun, a rich salty-sour paste emerges for enhancing most anything.

Massa de Pimento- Portuguese Red Pepper Paste

Massa de Pimento- Red Pepper Paste

This famous Portuguese red pepper paste is used in dishes like Porco Alentejana to add depth to the sauce, over grilled fish and vegetables, and spread over plain slices of bread.

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Course: Condiment, Sauce

Cuisine: Portuguese

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Soaking: 8 hours

Total Time: 10 hours 15 minutes

Servings: cup

Author: My Hungry Traveler

Equipment

Food processor

Ingredients

6 large Red bell peppers
2 tbsp Kosher salt or coarse sea salt
2 cloves Cloves garlic
¼ cup Extra virgin olive oil

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

Core and seed peppers. Slice into long 1-inch wide strips.
Put pepper strips in a plastic freezer bag. Add salt, seal, and shake to get salt on all the pepper strips. Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 250°F (130°C). Rinse peppers to remove salt. Thoroughly dry them with paper towels.
Place pepper stips on a cookie sheet and bake for two hours. Remove and put in another freezer bag. Let them cool slightly then rub off skins. It's not critical to remove every bit of skin.
Put the peppers in a food processor along with the garlic cloves. Pulse and add olive oil until a smooth paste forms. Scoop pepper paste into a clean jar and refrigerate.