Massa de Pimentão Vermelho / Red Bell Pepper Paste
Red Bell pepper paste, in Portuguese is Massa de Pimentão Vermelho. If you make this paste you can cook many many traditional Portuguese dishes. This is mainly used for Pork to grill or to make stews and also to marinate birds and other meats or for the Portuguese type stews.
It takes some time but easy and after you make it you would enjoy it for a year.
Ingredients
2 kilos Red bell Peppers
2 kilos Salt
A little deep box
How to make
First part
Red Bell Pepper wash, dry, cut and remove the seeds and soft part from inside.
Next into the base of the box put salt then pepper, then salt then again pepper, in layers. At the end cover all pepper with salt. Close the lid and keep it in the dry place in room temperature. Put on top of the box some heavy object. You can use any heavy thing. And let it ferment 2 and half months.
Second part
After 2 and half months, bring the box to the kitchen and open it. You will see it reduced so much and the pepper released all the juice. Take them out and wash them very well.
Next dry them about 45 minutes only to drop the water but still keep the moist from the Peppers to keep the consistency of the paste soft.
After 45 minutes tap on it with the paper towel to remove the excesses water if there is and transfer them into a bowl.
Next bring to blend it. Use your normal blender, put half of the peppers into it if you have the small blender and blend it very well. When it reduced put in rest and blend very well until it becomes fine paste. If your blender is large then you can do it in one go.
After well blend, looks beautiful red rich color, and the consistency seems very good.
Keep into an air tide Jar. Trick time! To not to get the mold or fungus - use piece a cloth and cut it in a size of the jar top and soak it into oil that you prefer than cover it like this. Like this it stays away from the mold if you see any mold again do it like this again then you can use it for up to a year with out mold on it.
Note : Important part, remember it was fermented in the salt so it is very salty, you better not use salt after you use this paste in your food unless if you really need it after tasting at the end of the cooking.
