Balsamic Roasted Peppers Bruschetta

Preheat oven to 500ºF.

Wash and dry red bell peppers. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place whole peppers on the baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes (or until the skin all over the pepper is wrinkly and charred), turning every 15 minutes to char the sides.

Take out of the oven and transfer to a clean bowl to cool, cover tightly. Once peppers are cool enough to handle, gently peel off most of the charred skin. Pull the stem and seeds out of the pepper. Cut open the pepper to remove ribs and any remaining seeds. Cut the peppers in ¼-inch thick strips. If storing peppers for later use, place them in a container with a lid and cover in olive oil. Store in a fridge.

To assemble the bruschetta, turn the broiler on high and broil bread slices for 2 minutes or until the surface is nice and brown. Flip the slices and broil the other side of the bread the same way. Watch closely as the time will depend on the strength of your broiler.

Mice half of the garlic. Leave the remaining garlic whole. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper. Whisk vinaigrette vigorously.

In a bigger bowl, combine sliced peppers and balsamic vinaigrette you just prepared. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.

Cut the remaining whole clove of garlic lengthwise and using one half, cut side down, gently rub the toasted bread.

Depending on the size of your bread slices, spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese on each slice and sprinkle with fresh thyme. If desired, sprinkle the cheese with some sea salt. Top it off with 3-4 strips of marinated red bell pepper (roughly ⅓ to ½ of a pepper). Sprinkle with more fresh thyme and serve immediately.