Who doesn't love an “Italian Sweet Pepper” in the summertime. It's versatile in cooking and loaded with vitamins A and C. The Italian pepper is a variety of the species Capsicum annuum, like the bell pepper and the chili pepper. Although, the Italian pepper looks much like a chili pepper it tastes nothing like one, in fact, it's flavor is mild and much more like a bell pepper.
Italian sweet peppers can be used in many different ways; raw, lightly sauteed, or roasted. My favorite is slow roasting the pepper. Its easy to do and mellows the flavor of the pepper. After roasting the Italian pepper it is ready to use in a variety of ways. Amazing in sandwiches, potatoes (potato salad), scrambled eggs, and on top of a steak with sauteed onions just to make it extra happy and delicious!
Italian sweet peppers can be cut into slices and sauteed with a variety of other vegetables or added to your favorite sausage. Dice it raw into your favorite salad. The list goes on and on.... the versatility of this pepper is one of the things that makes it so special.
The Italian sweet pepper is most delicious when it's at its freshest! So enjoy it now, while it is still in season. Happy eating!
Preparation
Roasting Italian Peppers: Wash the peppers and place them whole on a cookie sheet. Roast at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet until you can safely handle the peppers. Twist the stem and remove from the rest of the pepper. The seeds and stem easily detach from pepper, discard (don't worry about any remaining seeds). Store in a sealed container with a lid (preferable glass) and refrigerate up to a week. Seal in zip lock bags for the freezer.
For sandwich use: add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste before storing them in the refrigerator and they are ready to brighten up any of your favorite sandwiches.
