Peperonata – Rustic Pepper and Potato Stew from Basilicata, Italy
Peperonata is an Italian pepper stew or sauce which can take many different forms. It can be a pasta sauce, garnish for meat or poultry, or condiment to serve with crostini. The key ingredient is delicious roasted or sweated peppers.
This version of peperonata is a very humble, rustic pepper stew with potatoes, from the Basilicata region of Italy. It’s a hearty meal from the land, satisfying and full of nutrients; dishes like this one fed the Italian countryside for generations. It’s also a very colorful dish, especially if made with both red and yellow bell peppers.
Begin by cooking the potatoes, while you prepare the peppers.
The potatoes will take on some of the flavor of the peppers.
Heat & Knives
The Recipe
Source: Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking
2 medium yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced or cut into chunks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 sweet peppers, preferably red and yellow
1 pound ripe fresh tomatoes, diced, or 1 cup chopped drained canned plum tomatoes
1 fresh or dried red chili, or more to taste
Combine the onions and olive oil in a skillet large enough to hold all the ingredients and set over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions start to soften, then stir in the potatoes along with salt and pepper to taste and continue cooking and stirring for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce with the point of a knife.
Meanwhile, peel the sweet peppers, using a vegetable peeler to remove the thin filament on the outside. Cut the peppers into long, inch-wide strips.
Add the pepper strips to the pan, stirring carefully to mix well without breaking up the potatoes. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the peppers are beginning to soften, then stir in the tomatoes. (Note that because the peppers are raw, they will take longer to soften than roasted peppers would.) Cut the fresh chili in half, discard most of the seeds and white membrane, cut it into very thin slices, and add to the pan; if using dried chili, break it shaking out and discarding most of the seeds (which is where a lot of the heat is located) and crumble into the pan. Stir once more and cook for another 15 minutes, until the tomato sauce is thick and all the vegetables are very soft. If there is still a lot of liquid in the pan, raise the heat and boil rapidly until the liquid is reduced to a syrupy sauce.
Remove from the heat and serve immediately. Peperonata is also often served at room temperature.
