Lazy Person's Golden Rush
Bell Pepper Sauce
Story/recipe and photos by Tom Weber

EUREKA!

No, this is not 1849, and I haven't struck gold at Sutter's Mill in Old California; but, what I've "discovered" is worth its weight in that global monetary standard.

It's a sauce that's so radiant and delicious, you'll think you hit the mother lode right there in your own kitchen.

"California Gold Diggers: Mining Operations on the Western Shore of the Sacramento River" – lithograph published by Kellogg & Comstock, New York and Hartford - Courtesy of the Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut - In the public domain via Wikipedia

I didn't need a brigade of "forty-niners" to assist, just a little pre-planning and a bit more time on the hourglass than usual. Armed with a few simple ingredients that I actually purchased in advance – yes, IN ADVANCE – and I was good to go to stake my claim to the Lazy Person's Golden Rush Bell Pepper Sauce. LPGRBPS for short.

This is a terrific topper for pasta – penne or fusilli would work well – coat it over a Piadina Romagna in place of the standard tomato sauce for a killer flatbread pizza, or use it as a dipping sauce with beef fondue, or alongside grilled steak, chicken, pork or fish.

The LPGRBPS is the tasty, go-to, creamy liquid when you're looking to strike gold in la cucina.

What do you say we head into the galley and get this little culinary "rush" underway?

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LAZY PERSON'S GOLDEN RUSH BELL PEPPER SAUCE

Ingredients (to yield approximately 24 oz/710 ml)

• 6 medium size Bell peppers ( 2 ea. red, yellow and orange)
• 3 tbsp Virgin Olive Oil
• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 can (400 gr/) Peeled Tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp Dried Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 Chicken Broth Bullion Cube

Prep & cooking time: 60-min.

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Step-1: Rinse off Bell Peppers; cut in half; remove stems, white pith and seeds. Cut into cubes.

Step-2: Coat the bottom of a medium size pot with Virgin Olive Oil.

Step-3: Flatten Garlic Cloves, place in pot and cook on MEDIUM heat until slightly brown (1-1.5 min.).

Step-4: Add the Bell Peppers, stir and let mixture cook down on MEDIUM heat (approximately 15-min.).

Step-5: Add Peeled Tomatoes, stirring to merge well.

Step-6: Add Dried Red Pepper Flakes and stir.

Step-7: Add Chicken Stock Bullion Cube, or similar, to mixture and stir.

Step-8: Partially cover pot and let the mixture stew on MEDIUM-LOW heat (approximately 20-min.).

Step-9: Uncover, let the mixture continue cooking on LOW heat until it thickens (approximately 10-min.).

Step-10: Turn off heat and begin pureeing mixture until it reaches a thick and creamy consistency.

Step-11: Let the new sauce cool, then transfer to storage containers and freeze for later use.

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Now, you know how to make the Lazy Person's Golden Rush Bell Pepper Sauce, too. Keep the recipe handy as I'll be showing you soon how to put it to good use. In the meantime, here are a couple of sneak previews.