Cooking with fresh seasonal ingredients and love…the Italian way.
by Peter Francis Battaglia –
Growing in a little box in on my patio is a cook’s treasure box of must haves…fresh herbs. Easy to grow, just keep them watered and you will have fresh green herbs from Spring until Winter. I have Italian Parsley, Chives, Rosemary,Thyme, Basil, and Oregano. Standard stuff…yet a pinch of any of these whether added at the last minute, as a garnish, or in the cooking process itself
will render an ordinary dish extraordinary. You can see my little patchwork of herbs in the pic above, taking center stage is the Oregano. The fresh version has a very different, yet similiar (confusing , no?) flavor profile than the stronger, bolder dried Oregano. Both are a favorite and both, the dried in particular factor into endless Mediterranean dishes, as well as Mexican. I received a beautiful bag of very long Red frying peppers from my sister and brother-in-law. When cooked these peppers are unbelievably sweet yet they have that delicious pepper taste and they were screaming to be stuffed (not my family members, ….the peppers). Again, opening up the fridge I looked to see what ingredients were on hand to stufff the peppers with and
immediately got going.
Sneak peak at the finished product…I want you to want to
make these badly so…stare at the picture for inspiration.
Seek out these long red peppers, they are sweet peppers, not chiles…don’t let the red color fool you. If you cant find the red, the cubanelle green Italian frying pepper will work. The red pepper looks like an “u cornu” the Italian “horn” which is a facsimile of the red long pepper…it’s intended to ward off the Mal’occhio..the evil eye. My u’Cornu was given to me by my parents as
a child…one of my treasured pieces of jewelry. This U’Cornu dish of stuffed red peppers is sure to ward off anyone who thinks your cooking is not good…they will only want you to cook for them again and again! For this recipe, use 8 peppers, wash and dry them. Then cut the tops off and remove the seeds and ribs with your fingers. Save the tops.
Now, in a bowl add:
- 1 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs
- 3 tbs. of olive oil, 2 tbs. of ricotta cheese (get the fresh one if at all possible)
- 1 1/2 tsp. of dried oregano
- 1/2 of a pepper, finely minced
- 1 clove of garlic, finely minced
- 1/8 tsp. black pepper
- 2 slices of prosciutto finely minced
- 1/2 cup grated Caciocavallo or Pecorino
- 2 tbs. freshly chopped Italian parsley
Now mix well but keep it as loose as possible. Add more Ricotta or Olive oil if too thick. Now stuff into the peppers, do not over stuff..it’s an enhancement to the pepper..that is the flavor that you want to rise above all the others. Leave a good 1/2 inch from the tops..the stuffing will grow somewhat.
In a large iron skillet you can pan roast these…if your skillet is not big enough, you will need to roast them in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. Add 1 tbs. of olive oil to the cast iron skillet..arrange the peppers in and bring it to high heat…when the peppers start sputtering turn the heat down to medium and sprinkle salt over the peppers…cover with foil for 5 minutes. Then turn them on other side, tent, leave for 15 minutes…check for burning, if they are browning too quickly lower the flame. The idea of this pan-roasting method is to in a more rapid fashion,roast these peppers bringing out all of their sweetness and smokyness from the char. They are done in about 30-40 minutes, or less, only you can figure that out. And very easily. If the pepper is soft all the way around, you are done…but you will NOT be done before 1/2 an hour. Be patient, be rewarded.
In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add those reserved pepper tops. More than eating the tops, they make “una bella figura”, they look nice!
Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
You will be left with a pepper infused oil in the pan that you can drizzle about 1 tsp. over each serving. Scatter fresh Oregano leaves over the dish…and get some GOOD BREAD..crusty, scorch bottomed bread…and dip that bread into the pan of oil..then chase it with a forkful of the stuffed pepper.
You’re living La Dolce Vita again…the flavors will get you loaded with their heady perfume..by the way…did you check out the no salt added to the stuffing mixture…stick to that…between the cheeses and the prosciutto, you are salt seasoned enough…it’s just the outsides of the peppers that needed a little bit of sodium.
Lots of pepper blog posts…why you ask? Because I like them…that’s first…then comes, they are in season in ABUNDANCE right now and there is no better time to use them.
Happy Harvest Cooking!!!
Read more great recipes and writings of Peter Francis Battaglia at his blog:
