Our recipe this weeks comes by special request from our social media. I’m making a renewed effort in the New Year to post more of our daily activities in the MAKE Projects kitchen to Instagram so you all can see more of what we do as well as update you on the latest items that we have available. Well, after posting about a fresh batch of Piri Piri Hot Sauce we made we had one person ask if we might be willing to share the recipe which I’m happy to do here!
Piri piri is made in various forms throughout Eastern Africa but is actually Portuguese in origin, having traveled here during times of colonialism. This hot sauce generally involves hot peppers, citrus, and oil as well as numerous other flavorings. Our version is something we developed in the MAKE Projects kitchen when we came across a bumper crop of locally grown oranges. We wanted to really use a bunch of them up and highlight that bright orange flavor along with the spiciness from the peppers. So, our variation involves a couple little twists on the traditional Piri Piri recipe by reducing the orange juice to a syrup first and then fire roasting some sweet bell peppers to bring some smokiness as well as temper the heat of the hotter peppers. We hope you enjoy and if you have a question or would like to see a specific recipe for anything please feel free to reach out on our social media!
MAKE Projects Piri Piri Hot Sauce
3 Cups Orange Juice
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
2 or 3 Hot Red Pepper**
1 Teaspoon Garlic (Minced)
2 Teaspoon Ginger (Minced or grated)
1 Tablespoon Sugar
¼ Cup Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Lime or Lemon Juice
Salt (To Taste)
**Red jalapeno, fresno, birds eye, or habanero (be careful!) Adjust to your spice preference. I like red colored peppers for the color but you can also use green
Procedures
Place the orange juice in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to about ½ cup of liquid or until syrupy. Be careful especially towards the end so it doesn’t burn!
Meanwhile, using a pair of tongs place the bell pepper directly over a gas flame on the stove or in a 450 F oven on a foil lined sheet pan. Cook, turning as needed, until completely blackened all over. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to steam. This will make it very easy to peel off the blackened skin. Peel and remove the seeds once cool and set aside.
Prepare the hot peppers by cutting the stem off and cutting in half. Using gloves, remove the seeds if you prefer to remove some of the heat. At this point, judge how spicy your peppers are and how spicy you want your sauce to be and adjust accordingly.
In a blender, place the reduced orange juice, peeled bell pepper, hot peppers, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, sugar, and salt.
Put cover on blender and turn on. Blend thoroughly.
While the blender is running slowly add the olive oil. Turn off, taste, and adjust salt as needed. Add a little more lemon juice if it needs tartness. Once blended it will keep about 2 weeks in the refrigerator or can be frozen indefinitely. Enjoy!
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