Flawlessly roasted, tender red bull's horn peppers in heavy cream-plus-cheese white sauce... This peppers sauce recipe is achieved by first roasting peppers (you can use bell peppers instead of Italian bull horn peppers) to a soft perfection, and then simmered in heavy cream, garlic and cheese. Does there exist a more perfect side dish?
A couple of nights ago I had these Roasted Red Peppers in White Sauce for dinner. Sure, these bull's horn peppers (you can easily exchange them with red bell peppers) in cheese and heavy cream are just a simple and easy, vegetarian side dish. (Relatively fast to make too if you don't count the time it takes to roast the peppers. Although roasting takes only 20-25 minutes anyway.)
But to me this peppers sauce was creamy enough, cheesy enough, and hearty enough to become my entire meal that night.
Aleksandra got the recipe from one of her friend's. She wanted all of us to try it out. Unfortunately for everyone else, I was the fastest. Before they could sit down and get a plate, my darling family had the pleasure of watching me slurp up most of the cheesy and creamy white sauce, and the softest, reddest, most tender bulls horn peppers you can imagine. Like I said, just make this a red bell peppers recipe if you can't find these pointy, long, sweet ones from Italy and the Balkans.
(Here's a fun fact for you. Did you know red bell peppers are the same as yellow bell peppers, that are the same as green bell peppers? They're just at a different state of ripeness, that's all.)
Roasted Red Peppers in White Sauce Done to Perfection
These roasted red peppers in white sauce are a sum of straightforward steps and tastes. It was immediately obvious it didn't need a second, or a third preparation to deserve being on the blog.
Let's get back to why.
Firstly because of roasted peppers. As long as you pay attention to them while roasting, bull's horn and bell peppers come out perfectly each time. Hike up the temperature (I go as high as 485°f/ 250°c, but watch you oven), and pay attention to them. Flip them around halfway through. They should be perfectly roasted in about 20 to 25 minutes. You'll notice a few black char blotches on the skin. The skin will wrinkle up and rise in certain spots. Take them out and leave to cool down for 10-20 minutes, and then peel. (Like mentioned, to get peel roasted red peppers you can even place them in a bag and close it for 10-15 minutes. This makes peeling easier.)
If you've been to this blog at least once, you'll recognize these red peppers have a special place on here. They're all over the blog. They're in ajvar, that famous Balkan spread you fall in love with if you taste it even once. (Seriously, I have never met a person who knew about ajvar and did not love it. Not like it. Love it!) There is a similar tomato and pepper spread known as pindjur. One could argue it's as good as ajvar itself.
But sometimes, I like red peppers just like that, roasted, dipped in olive oil, sprinkled with a little garlic.
Secondly, there is something about this pepper white sauce.
I've done several heavy cream inspired sauces on the blog. You may remember the very simple pasta with veggies in white sauce. Most of the base for this sauce was heavy cream along with basic seasonings. Heavy cream really lays on the thickness, and makes even the most boring of veggies taste deeper and more flavorful. Those of you who are a little bit more meat oriented may remember the typical Balkan meatballs in, yet again, heavy cream based white sauce. In short, I had enough experience with this type of sauce to know it would bring a deeper dimension to regular roasted peppers.
So combine the first with the second, add a little bit of cheese, and does it get any better?
I think not.
Roasted Red Peppers in White Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds red bull horn's peppers or red bell peppers, washed, cored and seeded
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 5 ounces heavy cream
- 1.5 ounces Edam cheese or Trappist, grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 485°F.
- Cover a pan sheet with foil and place peppers on it leaving a little bit of space in between. Roast for a total of 20 to 25 minutes. Check a couple of times, and turn peppers around halfway through. Take out when you notice the skin wrinkling, and the peppers charring a bit.
- Place peppers in a bag and close it for 10-15 minutes. Peel and cut into 2-3 inch strips.
- In a deep pan, heat up butter on medium temperature. Add garlic and simmer and stir for a minute. Add heavy cream and salt and continue simmering and stirring a few more minutes. Add cheese and again simmer and stir for a couple of minutes. At the end add peppers, stir, simmer and bring to a boil. Remove off heat and serve warm.
mjskitchen says
You just reached out and grabbed the heart of a roasted red pepper lover!!!! OMG! I have to make this. There is a bag of roasted red New Mexico chiles in the freezer just waiting for this dish. Thank you!!
Aida says
Aahaha. We're in good company then!
I've never had NM chilies, but please do come back and let us know how it turned out. Everyone complains about spiciness here but I love it.
Marwah says
Hi Aida! I was sooooo excited when I saw the video for this recipe on facebook. I have a Bosnian friend who made this dish at a dinner party a few years back and I absolutely loved it. As soon as I saw the recipe, I went to the grocery store for some red peppers and heavy cream. I used regular red bell peppers as red bull horn peppers are not available here. I followed the recipe but left out the cheese because I didn't have Edam and wasn't sure if mozzerella would have been a suitable substitute. Even without the cheese, the dish turned out amazing!
Aida says
Hi Marwah!
How are you doing? I bet you got your hands even more full. 🙂
We're crazy about peppers in our family. Bell peppers are just fine, as long as they're red. They're the sweetest.
I think other yellow hard cheeses would be fine too. I am curious to try it with cheddar but I haven't run into it here. Not sure about Mozzarella either, worth a try though.
Glad you're cooking up a storm again, and we look forward to seeing you again in Sarajevo!
Sabrina says
I never had anything like this but it looks really delicious! Anything with cheese and peppers is good in my book!
Aida says
Thanks Sabrina! It's easy, and one of those things you can do to impress guests with and only you'll know how simple it really is. 😉
Suzie says
I am an American currently living in Kosovo, where I have had delicious peppers in a sauce that sounds just like this, and I've been looking for a recipe. I keep running into this problem though, of where/how to find heavy cream. In one store I was able to find something called "Vrhnje" (I think from Macedonia though I'm not sure) -- it has a fat content of 20% which makes it equivalent to US "light cream," and it lacks the thickness of heavy cream and also does not "whip," I have found in recipes calling for whipping the cream. Would "light cream/vrhnje" work in this recipe? Is there a product on the shelves that I just haven't seen that's equivalent to heavy cream? Even the Vrhnje is hard to find, I've only seen it in one store regularly. Most "cream" products are imported from Italy and made from vegetable fat instead of milk and that just...does not sound appetizing!
Aida says
Suzie,
Look for something called "vrhnje za kuhanje" - it translates to cream for cooking. Here are some examples what it looks like: https://www.google.com/search?q=vrhnje+za+kuhanje&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1v6np8PzqAhUmAhAIHWlmAjwQ_AUoAXoECBYQAw&biw=1335&bih=670
Jacob says
Grew some Bull's Horn Peppers without a plan on what to make with them and tried this recipe. It is amazing. Such a rich cheesy sauce that goes wonderfully with these peppers. Excellent recipe!
Aida says
Thanks, Jacob, we appreciate your feedback! Red peppers seem to be a love or hate thing, and we're happy you're in the former category. Cheers!
Kiwigirl says
My neighbor left on holiday and begged us to harvest their veggies, which we have (gleefully) done! However, we didn't know what these peppers were, so we picked them green, only to learn later they are red bull horn peppers and we picked them to soon. 🙁 Now we have a bunch of green bull horn peppers. Would this recipe still work for them?
Aida says
Kiwigirl,
You can, but you're better off making a salad with them. They're fully sweet only when they ripen, so the sauce might be on the sour side.