HOME MADE HOT CHILI PASTE

Ever since I was a child and brought a bottle of Tabasco with me to school to pep up my school meals I have loved chili peppers and peperoncino. It was a strong bond between me and my father, this love for hot food, he often told me about his finds in the field of chili paste and hot salsas and the more I think of it, the more I realize what a big part of my gastronomical education he has been. So I know that he would have loved the chili paste I have made. Marco is also a lover of hot food (let’s not go into that tricky area of eventual similarities between your husband and your father and what that means) so when I no longer was able to find our favourite chili paste, it seems to have vanished from the market here, I had to try to find a substitute which has not been easy. The salsas and pastes I have found have either been to weak or too sweet and when looking at the ingredient list, I was amazed at what a lot of unnecessary stuff they put into it. So I had come to a sort of standstill here. But then I saw Lara’s post and had an illumination, I had fresh peperoncini at home so why didn’t I make my own chili paste? Yet another of those simple things you never really think about making yourself but luckily there are ways to be put onto the right path! Now what I am going to give you is not a recipe with measures but just the ingredients I used because I just tasted my way to the flavour I liked. I used peperoncini piccanti of a variety called folgorante which means striking in the sense the striking of a lightning so you can imagine how hot they were! I think I will use some variety that is a bit less hot next time just to see what happens. I have absolutely no idea of how long this paste keeps so I deep froze small amounts to take out when needed, feels safer that way.

HOME MADE HOT CHILI PASTE

2-3 rather large chili peppers, preferably red
tomato paste
mild vinegar
honey
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Cut the chili peppers open and remove the top and the white parts, keep the seeds, before cutting them into smaller pieces.
- Put them in a food processor or use a hand mixer together with a fair amount of tomato paste and start blending. Add more tomato paste if you want a rounder flavour.
- Add a little olive oil to get the right consistency and start adding vinegar, honey and salt until you have found the flavour you like.

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