Peppers Peppers and More Peppers

Our grandparents and my mom and dad loved peppers in all kinds of ways, fried, baked, roasted, grilled and they were used in just about every meal one way or another.

Roasted Peppers were a staple in our home growing up and often Grandma-made on a gas stove and burnt under a broiler until soft and tender.

Just peel the skins, add olive oil and fresh garlic clove, a little salt to taste, hard crusty Italian Bread.

It was a labor of love and a delicious economical meal to feed a large family.

All Kinds Of Peppers

1. Bell peppers in colors of red, yellow, and green are perfect for stir fry and these roast perfectly
2. Shishito these can be roasted and usually tame however sometimes you will get a real hot spicy one in the bunch
3. Banana pepper great in sandwiches
4. Sweet Italian pepper (pepperoncini)a little tangy not too spicy
5. Pimento pepper Piquillo also referred to as cherry peppers
6. Cuban pepper is very popular for frying and we love them better than bell peppers mild in heat, and they’re considered sweet peppers.

Sweet, Hot, Roasted and More Peppers

Italian Sweet Peppers, Long hots, or Cuban peppers are the best frying peppers, shown is sautéed in olive oil, with fresh garlic, salt, and pepper.

Many times add to foods such as pasta, eggs, sausage, and various meats, pizza, and salads of all kinds.

You can, grill, roast, stuff, boil, fry, bake, or even eat raw. It is a traditional pepper to use for making Italian dishes and know for its sweetness in flavor.

This pepper takes on a similar shape to the Anaheim chile pepper.

When this Italian pepper is harvested it usually reaches 6 to 8 inches in length and may still be young and green colored or it may be allowed to mature to a bright red colored pepper. Always select firm peppers, never soft.

Other terms for the Italian Sweet Pepper can also be referred to as an Italian Sweet Relleno Pepper or a Sweet Italian Frying peppers.

Italian Stuffed Peppers

To prepare a bell pepper, cut around the stem, which you may want to keep to use as a cap, scoop out the seeds and discard them take out the white part of the ribs.

If the recipe you are following suggests you peel your peppers, put them under a broiler, turning them often, until they blister, then scrape away the skins (if you've already cut them into strips broil them skin side up).

By the way, Italian for bell pepper is piperine, which becomes peperoni in the plural. Hot peppers are called peperoncini (little peppers) in standard Italian.

Fried peppers can be added to scrambled eggs, toppings for pizza, with sausage, on salads, or just plain in a sandwich, the olive oil here is full of flavor.

Roasted, Grilled, Broiled, Salads, Ideas

Roasting these after you have cleaned and sliced them in half is easy. Lay them down on an outdoor grill if you have one.

Put skins side down and roast until tender burnt on the outside, the skins will easily come off. Dredge in olive oil, cloves of garlic, and refrigerate.

Another method is to put it directly under the broiler in the oven gas or electric range.

Pepperoncini are mild with a slight heat to them, with a hint of bitterness, and are commonly pickled and sold in jars.

The Greek varieties are sweeter and less bitter than the Italian varieties grown in Tuscany.

Mostly used in Antipasto Italian salad or even straight from the jar.

Cherry Peppers, also found in jars are used in pasta dishes such as Chicken Riggie Pasta popular dish originating in Utica, New York.

Grandpa and Hot Pepper

Cherry peppers: A story to share with you, as a small child my brother Johnny would watch Grandpa Giovanni eat these raw, he would pop a hot cherry pepper in his mouth and the tears would just pour out of his eyes. Little Johnny would always wonder why his grandpa was crying over peppers he ate. Grandpa would say caldo caldo,( hot, hot) just kept eating them anyway and loved them. Caution, if you touch the seeds and then you rub your eyes....ouch "fa male caldo" hurts, hot!

They are the perfect size for a garnish on a dish or pickling.

They are quite tasty and great on salads or homemade salsa.

You can use either pickled or fresh peppers for this purpose. They’re also excellent on a pizza!

Another great use for cherry peppers is to make deep-fried poppers.

These are normally peppers that have been filled with cheese, coated, and fried and you can simply pop them in the mouth.

Filling the cherry pepper is easily accomplished if you remove the stem. Alternately, you can stuff or fill them by slicing them in half.

There are medium and sweet peppers, easily grown because they don't take much room...if you don't like the heat remove the seeds before adding to a dish so it isn't too spicey.

Cherry Peppers Stuffed

2 (12 ounces) jars cherry peppers, drained
4 to 5 slices provolone cheese
4 ounces prosciutto (Italian-style ham), thinly sliced
Olive oil

Carefully remove the stems and seeds from the cherry peppers.

Set aside the empty jars and lids. Take one slice of provolone with 1 or 2 slices of prosciutto on top and roll them up.

Cut them into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices like pinwheels. Stuff 1 or 2 slices into each cherry pepper. Finish till all the rolls are gone and all peppers are stuffed. Fill the empty jars with the stuffed peppers.

Fill jars with enough olive oil to cover all the peppers.

Replace lids and chill for several hours to several days. Drain well before serving.

Grandpa and Grandma Victoria Ferraro Colenzo and Giovanni (John) Colenzo