The Chilli Guru

Freezing Chillies

Chillies can be frozen raw or cooked, but the important thing to remember is to open freeze them before bagging them up, so that you can take out the required number rather than one huge welded mass.

Although it is useful to have a selection of different chillies available from the freezer, the real star is frozen char-grilled Jalapeños. They are simple, if time consuming, to prepare.

Method

• Cut the stem end off each Jalapeño
• Split each chilli lengthways
• Remove the core and seeds from each piece
• Place each piece skin side up on a grill pan
• Grill under a high heat until the skin is blistered and blackened
• Allow to cool
• Open Freeze
• store in bag or tub in freezer

Thaw the char-grilled Jalapeños in a closed container to avoid too much condensation, drizzle with a little olive oil, and serve as a side dish to cooked meats, cheese, pizza, curries and any dishes that need a bit of extra spice. Alternatively, top each chilli with cream cheese and serve as a novel tapa / antipasto / meze.