• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Italian Food Made Simple

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Resources
    • Conversion Charts
    • Glossary
  • Travel Italia
  • Contact
  • Did You Know

Peperonata

September 20, 2016 by Barbara Leave a Comment

 

Peperonata is easy to make and a very versatile dish.

There’s no better or easier way to enjoy colorful sweet peppers than by preparing a dish of peperonata. Braised with tomatoes and onions, this classic Italian dish can be assembled in about 30 minutes, soup to nuts…so to speak.

And a dish of peperonata is so versatile. Serve it hot or at room temperature. It makes a great contorno (side dish) to chicken, veal or fish. It tastes delish folded into a hot, fresh frittata. It looks stunning as part of an antipasto platter. Or…layered into a sub sandwich and tucked underneath some prosciutto and provolone.

 

The Peperonata Big Three

 

The big three for peperonata: peppers, onions and tomatoes.

The main ingredients: fresh sweet peppers, ripe tomatoes and pungent red onions. Like potatoes and tomatoes, sweet peppers came to Italy from the New World in the second half of the 16th century. Like tomatoes, they were viewed at first as poisonous, until some brave soul took one for the team and lived! After that, sweet peppers were off and running in the Italian culinary world. Now they’re grown all over Italy though peperonata, rumor has it, originated in Italy’s North.

Cut the peppers in half and get out the seeds and pith.

Begin with a good knife and cutting board. Cut the ends off the peppers, then cut them in half. Scoop out the seeds and membrane and slice them up.

Italians will more often use red onions over white or yellow.

Slice the onion at least a 1/4″ thick so the slices won’t disintegrate while braising.

Drop tomato in boiling water for a minute to get off the skin.

To quickly peel a tomato, bring some water to boil in a small pan. Cut an “x” on the bottom of the tomato. Then lower it into the boiling water and keep it there for only one minute. You want to scare the skin off…not cook the tomato. As you can see, only one minute in the boiling water and the peel wants out of there! Then you just cut open the tomato, scoop out the seeds and cut it into strips.

Braising the peperonata vegetables keeps the taste fresh.

As you braise the ingredients, they will release some fragrant juices that will add to the peperonata flavor.

Variations on this recipe: 1) if you’d rather not eat the skin on the peppers you can scorch it off either by holding the pepper over the flame of your burner or putting the peppers under the broiler. Both methods will blacken the peppers, at which point you let them sit in a paper bag. After they cool, just peel off the skin. 2) You can add chopped garlic to the dish as you braise all the ingredients. 3) You can season the finished dish with a splash of red wine vinegar. Personal choice. Either way it’s all good.

Enjoy it by itself or with meats or in a fritatta or as part of an antipasto.

If you love peperonata, be sure to try my recipe for caponata here.

Print

Peperonata

Yield: Serves 6

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 large yellow bell peppers
  • 2 large red bell peppers
  • 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 sliced large red onion
  • 3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut into strips
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil (or substitute 1 teaspoon dried basil)

Directions:

  1. Cut the peppers in half, cut out and discard the stems, seeds and ribs and cut the peppers into 1/4 wide strips.
  2.  Heat the oil in a large skillet until hot but not smoking. Add the onions and cook them for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion are soft.
  3. Stir in the peppers, tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook uncovered over moderate heat for 10-12 minutes.
  4. Add the basil and cook 3 more minutes.
  5. Serve the peperonata hot or at room temperature.

Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: antipasto, fried peppers, Italian antipasto, Italian peppers, peperonata, Peppers, sweet peppers

Previous Post: « Sausage and Peas Pasta Sauce
Next Post: Ravioli with Walnuts and Rosemary »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar


Hi. I'm Barbara Francis and I hope you like authentic Italian food as much as I do. It's simple, fresh, seasonal. What's not to like? And it's part of my heritage. So join me in the kitchen of Italian Food Made Simple. Just step right over the dog, she won't move even if you ask her.

more about me »

Stay Connected

RSS Twitter Facebook

Search

Archives

  • June 2018
  • February 2018
  • May 2017
  • March 2017
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014

Copyright © 2023 Italian Food Made Simple on the Foodie Pro Theme