Massa de Pimentao (Portuguese Red Pepper Paste)

If you’ve made my Febras Grelhadas (recipe on the site) or the Rojoes a Moda do Minho (recipe on the site) from this site, you’ve already met massa de pimentao without knowing its name. It’s the rusty red paste that goes into the marinade, the thing that gives Portuguese grilled and fried pork its particular tang and color, somewhere between sweet paprika and a light pickle.

Traditionally it’s made in late summer when peppers are cheap and plentiful, salted down in crocks, and kept in the pantry through winter the way my avo in Tras-os-Montes kept everything: with salt, patience, and no refrigerator to rely on. My version is a faster, fridge-friendly adaptation, but the salting step still matters. It’s what gives the paste its texture and keeps it from tasting like plain roasted pepper puree.

Once you have a jar of this in the fridge, you’ll start finding excuses to use it, on grilled chicken, rubbed into pork chops before the pan, even stirred into mayonnaise for a sandwich spread. Consider it the Portuguese answer to harissa.

Massa de Pimentao Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes plus 24 hours salting · Cook time: 20 minutes · Total: about 24 hours 40 minutes · Servings: about 2 cups (16 servings) · Calories: ~25 per serving

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet red bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for storing

Instructions

1. Toss the chopped peppers with the kosher salt in a colander set over a bowl. Let sit, covered loosely, in the refrigerator for 24 hours; this draws out excess water and firms up the texture.
2. Rinse the peppers briefly under cold water and pat dry with a clean towel.
3. In a food processor, combine the salted peppers, garlic, paprika, peppercorns, and one bay leaf. Blend to a rough, thick paste.
4. Transfer to a small saucepan with the wine, olive oil, and the second bay leaf. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, until thickened and no longer watery.
5. Discard the bay leaves. Let cool completely.
6. Spoon into a clean jar and top with a thin layer of olive oil to seal. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks, or freeze in small portions for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

• Portuguese colorau (a mild, slightly sweet paprika) is traditional here; sweet Spanish paprika or Hungarian sweet paprika are both fine substitutes if you can’t find colorau.
• Don’t skip the salting step. It’s what separates this from a simple roasted pepper puree and gives it the shelf life to keep in your fridge for weeks.
• Use about 2 tablespoons of this paste per pound of pork when making a marinade, mixed with garlic, white wine, and bay leaf.
• Freezing in an ice cube tray makes it easy to pull out just what you need for a weeknight marinade.