Red Pepper Paste – the Armenian secret ingredient!

Red pepper paste is one of those secret ingredients that a cook might neglect to mention when sharing the recipe with someone else.

My maternal grandmother, Yeranuhe Nanny, came from Musa Dagh, Musa Ler, in Armenian. Many of her homeland recipes incorporated red pepper paste – from Sarma Gurgood (Tabbouleh), to Banerov Hatz (Cheese-Onion Flatbread), to potato salad – or whatever recipe she fancied.

When anyone asked for her recipe, she wasn’t sneaky; she’d mention the use of red pepper paste. What she didn’t tell them was that you had to make it yourself! In her day, there was no such thing as commercially prepared red pepper paste, nor would a shortcut version be considered acceptable.

Sure, today you can buy the paste in Middle Eastern stores, but  if you want to capture the true essence of Nanny’s recipes, nothing beats her very tedious homemade version.

As a child I’d watch Nanny toil over the preparation. She’d go to the farmer’s market and buy several bushels of red peppers at the peak of their season, and when prices were low.

She’d cut them, remove the seeds, wash them, then hand-grind the peppers. Then she’d cook the ground peppers in a large pot until the liquid was evaporated. The next step was to spread the pepper mash onto baking sheets and sun-dry them for 1 to 3 days depending on the heat and humidity.

Nanny sat outside, guarding her trays against flies and other insects, or change in weather. If there was a threat of rain, she’d quickly snatch the trays and haul them upstairs to her kitchen.

The paste was ready when it turned a brownish-red color, and the consistency was more like tomato paste. Nanny would place the paste in small sterilized jars, put a little olive oil on top, tightly cover the jars, and refrigerate the amount that would be used soon.

The rest went into the freezer for year-round use.

Thankfully, this modern spin on Nanny’s original recipe is quicker and easier!

Red Pepper Paste

A staple in our kitchen that creates the flavorful base in numerous Armenian recipes.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients
  

  • 6 large red bell peppers
  • ½ tsp. cayenne pepper (Add more if you want extra heat, but be careful!)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Wash the peppers and remove the seeds, and white membrane.
  • Coarsely chop the peppers.
  • Grind peppers in a food processor, using the metal S-blade. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the peppers. This is a very important step!
  • Spread the ground peppers in a large non-stick skillet, stir in the salt and cayenne pepper, and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to a simmer, cook, stirring periodically for about 45 minutes, or until the pepper mixture begins to resemble a thick paste. Allow mixture to cool.
  • Spoon the red pepper paste into small, sterilized jars. Pour a little olive oil over the top of the paste. Cover tightly, and refrigerate.
  • At this point you can freeze the red pepper paste. The trick is to use plastic ice cube trays. Place about a tablespoonful of paste in each ice cube compartment.
  • Place trays in freezer; freeze until red pepper cubes are frozen. Remove red pepper paste cubes from tray and place them in a freezer-safe resealable plastic bag. When ready to use, remove the number of red pepper paste cubes you need and defrost in the refrigerator. Keep the other “cubes” frozen until needed.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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7 Comments

  1. Anonymous November 2, 2009 at 2:27 am

    could someone give me the original receipe please..my grandmother past before she could teach me…please help i love the website thanks………

    Reply
  2. Robyn November 2, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    The simplified recipe mentioned above is as close to the original, lengthy recipe as you can get – without all of the fuss. Try it!

    Reply
  3. Anonymous November 2, 2009 at 11:53 pm

    thanks i already did love it. still would love the original i will keep looking thanks for all the love you give your receipes.

    Reply
  4. Robyn November 3, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    I have the lengthy version of this recipe, but it's too long to write as a comment, so I'll post it on the blog. Be on the look-out for it.I hope it's what you're looking for. Happy cooking!

    Reply
  5. Anonymous August 24, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    Since you need to squeeze out the extra liquid, would it be easier to use a juicer and just cook the pulp?

    Reply
  6. John Kaprielian November 12, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Do you have an authentic Musa Dagh baneerov hatz recipe? My grandmother was also from there and made it all the time, and I have not been able to duplicate it; It did use the paste yu describe above! (and lots of onions and white farmer cheese).

    Reply

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