Stuffed sweet peppers with Italian sausage and cheese make a delicious starter or side in this recipe by Mario Matassa
Discerning Italians will cast a disdainful eye on the perfectly symmetrical peppers that sit on supermarket shelves all year round. They’re pretty, but often quite tasteless.
The misshapen ones, the ones that have been grown naturally by people who know their peppers, are always so much better. Everything has its season, and peppers taste so much better in theirs.
Under the summer sun, pepper mania quickly takes hold. Some will be pickled and saved for winter. The rest? Italians stuff them, throw them onto a pizza, pan fry them with eggs, toss them into pasta, roast them, slice and toss them into their salad, or barbecue them and stick them into their children’s lunch box. Oh, and don’t forget the garlic!
Stuffed friarielli peppers | Friarielli ripieni
➤ SERVES: 4
➤ PREPARATION: 15 minutes
➤ COOKING: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 16 peppers (allow about 4 per person, depending on size)
- 300g Italian sausage (luganega works well)
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 50g plain white flour
- 2 large free-range eggs
- 2 tsp oregano
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 100g grated Grana Padano
Method:
- Try to select peppers that are long and straight. It will make stuffing easier. Wash the peppers and cut off the top, then carefully remove the cluster of seeds. (The skin of friarielli peppers is very thin and can be eaten without bother.) Set aside.
- Slice the sausage lengthwise with a sharp knife and remove the skin. Put the sausage meat into a large bowl and add the breadcrumbs, Grana Padano (you can also use parmesan), flour and oregano. Crack the eggs into the mixture and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix the ingredients well by hand until the stuffing mixture forms a ball.
- Take a pepper in one hand and, with the other, gently push a small ball of stuffing into the cavity. Continue adding stuffing and pushing down with your forefinger. You’ll eventually feel the stuffing towards the end of the pepper.
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC/Gas Mark 3. Place the stuffed pepper on a baking dish and repeat the process with the remaining peppers. Drizzle the peppers with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.
Cover the dish with tinfoil and bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes at 180ºC/ Gas Mark 4.
The stuffed peppers in this recipe are delicious served warm or cold with plenty of crusty ciabatta bread.
Discover another way to enjoy peppers with this crowd-pleasing bruschetta recipe
Words and recipe by Mario Matassa