Peperonata

Italy's slow-stewed sweet peppers, cooked down with onion, tomato, and olive oil until silky and sweet, eaten hot as a vegetable and cold as an antipasto

Origin: Italy

From the journey of Bell Pepper.

Peperonata is the dish that shows what the sweet pepper can do when it is given time. Ripe red and yellow peppers are cut into broad strips and stewed slowly in good olive oil with onion, a little tomato, and often garlic and basil, until they lose all their raw crispness and collapse into something quite different: silky, glossy, deeply sweet, and faintly acidic from a splash of vinegar added at the end. It belongs to the whole Italian peninsula but above all to the south, where the peppers are grown, and it is one of those thrifty summer preparations that Italian cooks make in quantity when the vegetable is at its cheapest and best. Its versatility is the point. Peperonata is eaten hot as a contorno beside grilled meat or fish, cold or at room temperature as part of an antipasto spread, piled onto bruschetta, tossed through pasta, folded into a frittata, and, most beloved of all, stuffed the next day into a crusty roll and eaten cold, when the oil has soaked into the bread. Red and yellow peppers are preferred to green, since the dish depends entirely on their ripe sweetness.

Ingredients

Peperonata

6 whole red and yellow bell peppers, deseeded and cut into broad strips
2 whole onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
400 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or good tinned)
100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt, or to taste

To Finish

1 handful basil leaves, torn
1 tbsp capers or pitted olives, optional

Method

Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over a low heat and cook the sliced onions gently for 12 to 15 minutes, until completely soft and sweet but not browned. Add the garlic for the last two minutes.
Add the pepper strips and a good pinch of salt, stir to coat them in the oil, cover, and cook over a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have wilted and released their juices.
Uncover, add the tomatoes, and simmer for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the tomato has broken down entirely, the peppers are meltingly soft, and the mixture is thick and glossy with the oil separating at the edges.
Stir in the vinegar, raise the heat for a minute to drive off its sharpness, then take off the heat. Taste and adjust the salt, and stir through the torn basil and the capers or olives if using.
Leave to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm, or cold.

Notes

Regional versions vary considerably: Sicilian cooks add capers, olives, and sometimes a spoonful of sugar with the vinegar to make it agrodolce; Roman versions leave out the tomato altogether for a purer pepper flavour; and further north the dish is often simply peppers and onion in oil. Whether to peel the peppers is a matter of preference, though peeling (by roasting first, or with a peeler) gives a noticeably silkier result. Serve with grilled sausages, roast chicken, or a piece of hard cheese, or eat it cold in a roll.

The Gastrographer

Name: Peperonata
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 6 whole red and yellow bell peppers, deseeded and cut into broad strips; 2 whole onions, sliced; 3 cloves garlic, sliced; 400 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or good tinned); 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 1 tsp salt, or to taste; 1 handful basil leaves, torn; 1 tbsp capers or pitted olives, optional

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control