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    Home » Recipes

    Red Peppers Cooked in Pressure Cooker

    Published: Jun 15, 2021 by Sonila · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

    • 2
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    In my native country of Albania we cooked red peppers in a variety of ways. Red Peppers cooked in Pressure Cooker were called Speca Gogozhare. Once they cool down, you can cut them in different shapes and serve them in salads or crostinis. I have lived half my life in Albania and half in USA at the time of writing this post. Right now I use an Instant Pot to make these peppers.

    Albanian red peppers cooked in pressure cooker, they're called gogozhare. The peppers are shown served on a platter with garlic, pepper, and bay leaves.
    Red Peppers cooked in Pressure Cooker – Speca Gogozhare

    How Do These Red Peppers Taste?

    These red peppers when cooked in pressure cooker with this Albanian recipe, taste both sweet and tangy. Like they’re a little pickled.

    When I first moved to US, I kept buying every jar of red peppers I saw on the store. But they were all roasted. So finally I decided to make my own!

    How Do You Serve These Red Peppers?

    The main way to serve these red peppers is on a salad. They can be part of a Mediterranean Meze spread. You can also just serve it over a sourdough slice of bread with a layer of ricotta. And finally I have seen them used in street food incorporated in burgers and gyros.

    Red peppers on a platter, shown with other ingredients they were cooked in. Garlic, bay leaves, pepper corn.
    Red Peppers – Gogozhare

    Tips & Notes

    It doesn’t matter if you are using a simple pressure cooker or a modern version like Instant Pot. The concept of cooking these peppers is very simple. They need to cook for about 5-7 minutes pressurized.

    • Garlic – on the recipe card I have added about 20 garlic cloves. However, you can add a lot more garlic and I usually do as well. I love the taste of the cooked garlic plus it’s healthy. Another benefit of the cooked garlic is that it doesn’t smell or taste as strong so you can consume more.
    • Peppercorn – 1 tbsp of peppercorn is enough for about 2 lbs red peppers.
    • Red Peppers – you want to pick red peppers that are thick and have a lot of flesh. It’s up to you to peel them when they are cool to the touch. I don’t peel them for salad but I do when I use them as a topping for crostinis.
    • Bay leaves – these ingredient is what gives a great flavor to the red peppers.
    • Vinegar – you need to use vinegar in cooking this dish. I use a simple white wine vinegar. I have heard others using Apple Cider Vinegar but I have never used it myself for this dish so I don’t know if it will do.
    • Finally, recipe for pickled red peppers is very similar and also the taste is similar but the process is slightly different. Pickled red peppers will taste really tart and pickled, these red peppers are more marinated and very light pickled flavor.
    An oval platter with red peppers, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorn etc

    Red Peppers Cooked in Pressure Cooker

    Sonila
    These marinated red peppers cooked in pressure cooker with garlic, peppercorn, bay leaves and more make for a great Mediterranean Meze when served cold. I cooked them in an Instant Pot but any pressure cooker will do.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 5 minutes mins
    Cook Time 5 minutes mins
    Release pressure 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 20 minutes mins
    Course Appetizer, Salad
    Cuisine Albanian, Mediterranean
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 222 kcal

    Equipment

    • Pressure Cooker

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 lbs red peppers
    • 20 garlic cloves I actually add a lot more because I love garlic
    • 1 tbsp peppercorn
    • 1 tbsp salt
    • 0.5 cup white wine vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar too
    • 3 tbsps water
    • 0.5 cup olive oil extra virgin
    • 6 bay leaves

    Instructions
     

    • Wash and clean the red peppers from seeds. Try to keep the original shape, remove the top carefully.
    • Place peppers in the pressure cooker. Add vinegar, olive oil, peppercorn, bay leaves, salt, water and garlic. Close the lid.
    • Set to cook in pressure cooker for about 5 to 7 minutes depending on how soft you like them. Follow instructions for your specific pressure cooker.
    • I let my instant pot to naturally release the steam for a while then open. Remove the peppers with a slotted spoon then place them on a platter, serve cold on salads or as a topping or meze platters. Add olive oil and more vinegar as needed on top.

    Video

    Notes

    • On nutrition facts the actual values would be lower since you don’t consume the oil and vinegar the peppers are cooked in, or you consume just a little bit of that. So keep that in mind when calculating macros per serving as it is an estimate. 

    Nutrition Label

    Nutrition Facts
    Red Peppers Cooked in Pressure Cooker
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 222 Calories from Fat 171
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 19g29%
    Saturated Fat 3g19%
    Monounsaturated Fat 13g
    Sodium 1173mg51%
    Potassium 390mg11%
    Carbohydrates 14g5%
    Fiber 4g17%
    Sugar 6g7%
    Protein 2g4%
    Vitamin A 4750IU95%
    Vitamin C 197mg239%
    Calcium 39mg4%
    Iron 1mg6%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 222kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 2gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gSodium: 1173mgPotassium: 390mgFiber: 4gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 4750IUVitamin C: 197mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword gogozhare, Meze, red peppers, Red peppers meze, speca gogozhare
    Tried this recipe?Mention @mediterranean_latin_love or tag #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair!

    If you would like to save this recipe for later, please save the below image to your boards in Pinterest. Let me know in comments below if you have any questions or feel free to tag me in social media with your version of this recipe:). Thank you!

    Instagram: mediterranean_latin_love or Facebook: Mediterranean Latin Love Affair.

    Red peppers served in platter, shown with garlic, bay leaves, pepper corn etc. Picture is prepared for Pinterest with a title bar over the image and the website link in the bottom.
    Albanian Red Peppers Cooked in Pressure Cooker (Speca Gogozhare) data-pin-description=”Red peppers cooked in Pressure Cooker or more specifically in Instant Pot make for a great salad or appetizer. In Albania we call these peppers ‘speca gogozhare’. Use them as toppings on crostini, salads or mezes. #redpeppers #pressurecooker #mediterraneanlatinloveaffair”

    Additional Mediterranean Recipes

    See below some of the my other Mediterranean recipes:

    • Smoked Salmon Crostini
    • Feta cheese & Cucumber Crostini
    • Cherry Sweet Spoon
    • Sour Cream Dip

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    Filed Under: Albanian, Mediterranean Food, Recipes, Salads, Side Dish Tagged With: Meze, Meze Shqiptare

    About Sonila

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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    Sonila Zarate
    Sonila Zarate

    Mom of 2, wife, engineer, food blogger & recipe creator! Sonila was born in Albania, her heritage inspires her Mediterranean recipes while that of her husband the Latin ones. Sonila has 2 degrees in Engineering from University of Miami.

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