Perfectly Roasted Hatch Chiles

by Lizzy W   |   October 22, 2013   |   3 Comments

For all you pepper lovers out there ITS FINALLY HATCH PEPPER SEASON!!  And for those of you who do not know anything about the Hatch Chili Pepper, allow me to sum it up:

-Hatch Chili peppers roll into town mid August and disappear late September (they are only harvested four weeks out of the year).
– They are grown in the Hatch valley of New Mexico, the chili capital of the world.  This valley is located along the Rio Grande’s southernmost bend before crossing into Texas and Mexico.
– No chili is prized more than this variety.  They have a meaty flesh and range from medium to high heat.
– They say that the intense sunlight and cool nights in this valley result in this unique and beloved flavored chili.

These peppers are so sweet and have such a wonderful flavor.  Once you get them home you will need to roast and skin them.  This is really simple but can be intimidating if you haven’t done it before, so I’ll show you how!  Is it weird that I am so excited it’s Hatch Pepper season?  Probably so… oh well – this is how you perfectly roast your hatch peppers:

Ingredients:

Hatch peppers (mild or high heat, whatever you prefer)

Directions:

• Preheat broiler
• Line chiles on a baking sheet.  Once the broiler is fully heated, it takes about 20 minutes to reach 500 degrees, place pan in the broiler.
• Let the chiles cook until the skin is mostly charred (about ten min) and then turn them over.  Once both sides are charred take them out of the oven and immediately place them in a Ziploc bag and seal.
• The chiles need to sweat now, so let them sit in the Ziploc a minimum of 20 minutes.  It doesn’t matter if they sit longer.
• Once the chiles are done sweating, you can peel of the skin very easily and scrape out the seeds.  Now you can use them in just about anything – here is your chance to be creative!!!

These chilis will freeze really well.  I suggest roasting a few batches and freezing them in individual bags for later use in soups, salsas, etc.