Peperonata Napoletana: Hearty and Delicious Italian Food

Follow this Peperonata Napoletana recipe to create a vegetarian starter, side dish or even a light lunch. The hearty dish is one of the most versatile Italian contorni (i.e. starters) that you can make at home. It's also delicious!

Peperonata NapoletanaPhoto by2foodtrippers

Our love for food in Italy doesn't just involve eating pizza and pasta in cities like Rome and Naples. We've also fallen in love with the Italian approach to vegetables. And, while we rarely say no to a fresh Caprese salad, we're especially besotted with Italian vegetable appetizers and sides (i.e. contorni) served at restaurants, markets and especially lunch counters.

While contorni dishes run the gamut from artichokes to zucchini throughout Italy, Peperonata is one of the most popular contorni options in Naples. It's also the one that excited us most during our most recent trip to Southern Italy.

In retrospect, we likely ate the dish countless times at holiday parties without really knowing what Peperonata was or the age-old traditions behind this stew of sweet peppers and tomatoes. But, now that we've eaten it at countless Italian restaurants and lunch counters, we've officially become Peperonata fans.

Mastering the rustic dish in our home kitchen was a must once we returned from our most recent Italy eating adventures.

What Is Peperonata?

Peperonata is essentially Italian stewed peppers with a touch of tomato. It's also a versaitle dish. You can serve Peperonata on its own or with a side of bread. You can make Pasta con Peperonata. You can serve Peperonata on toasted bread as a Peperonata Bruscheta or Peperonata Crostini. Sometimes, as Daryl is wont to do, you can 'secretly' munch on cold Peperonata with crackers (or on a spoon) at 3am.

The dish is a vegetarian staple in the Campania region which is notable for its wonderful soil and warm weather. A wonderful assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables grow on that soil in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius and its surrounding hills. Dishes like Peperonata are a reflection of this agricultural bounty.

According to Marlena Spieler, "...at its heart, la cucina Campana is a garden of infinite variety and exquisite quality." Spieler didn't just wax poetically about Peperonata. The late author published an excellent Peperonata recipe in A Taste of Naples: Neapolitan Culture, Cuisine, and Cooking that we've gently adapted to work for us.

Peperonata Napoletana Ingredients

The mix and quantity of peppers that Spieler calls for are great with just enough tomato umami and acidity to counter the sweetness and fattiness of the peppers. (Yes. Unbelievably, peppers naturally contain a surprising yet healthy amount of oil.) Adding capers gives the Peperonata a vegetal, almost ocean-like salinity while the fresh oregano provides a wonderful aroma.

Here's what you need to make great Peperonata Napoletana at home.

• 3 red bell peppers
• 3 yellow bell peppers
• 15 ounces canned, diced tomatoes with their juice
• 3 medium cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
• 1 medium onion (sliced 1/4" thick)
• 1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin)
• 2 tbsp capers (salted or brined - whichever you prefer)
• 2 tbsp oregano (fresh, roughly chopped)
• 2 sprigs oregano (fresh, leaves stripped for garnish)
• salt (to taste)

Red and Yellow Peppers

Red and yellow peppers provide beautiful color and, of course, flavor. You can also use orange peppers (which, of course, are in between yellow and red). Stay away from green peppers unless you're seeking a slightly bitter, more vegetal flavor in your dish.

Onions

You can use yellow or white onions. However, if given the choice, we say go for sweet white onions. Regardless of your choice, you'll want to slice the onions pole to pole, about 1/4 inch thick.

Garlic

Slice the garlic as thin as you can. The thinly sliced garlic will soften as it cooks.

Canned Diced Tomatoes

While you can hypothetically use fresh tomatoes in this recipe, canned, diced tomatoes are just as good and provide the best, most convenient results. This is especially the case during the winter months when tomatoes are out of season.

Capers

Capers provide a vegetal brininess to Peperonata Napoletana that tastes like the Mediterranean regardless of where you live.

Salt

We add salt in small increments while cooking the onions and peppers. We add additional salt prior to serving on an as-needed basis. You'll want to do the same.

Fresh Oregano

Don't use dried oregano unless fresh oregano is impossible to find. Fresh oregano gives the finished Peperonata Napoletana a gorgeous scent and provides the last bit of Mediterranean punch. Plus, fresh oregano doubles as a colorful garnish.

How to Make Peperonata Napoletana

Speiler's recipe is great with one exception. Using her blanching and boiling method to skin the peppers doesn't work. We understand her intention but, after blanching the peppers for over two minutes, the skin refused to come off.

So came up with a different technique. We heat the peppers inside our oven instead.

Start by placing the peppers on a sheet tray and then place them in an oven preheated to 350°f/180°c. We recommend baking the peppers for 30 - 40 minutes.

Pro Tip: It's important not to roast the peppers in too high of heat. You don't want to char them over a flame since that would leave the dish with too smokey of a flavor. (This is why we don't recommend charring the skins off on a direct flame.) You only want to roast the peppers enough to heat them and blister their skins.

Immediately place the hot peppers in a large bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. The skins will begin to blister off.

Peel off the skins once the peppers are cool enough to handle. (The skins may stick too much if they peppers are too cool.) It's not necessary to peel off 100% of the skins from the peppers. You just need to remove most of skin. You also need to discard the peppers' stems and seeds.

Start sautéing the garlic once the peppers are peeled.

You want to sauté the garlic until the garlic is fragrant. Add the onion slices and sauté until they're soft. Add a small amount of salt during this step. The salt allows the onions to soften and provides initial seasoning to the dish.

Add the skinned, stemmed and seeded peppers plus another small pinch of salt. Stir the peppers, garlic and onions for two minutes so that they're well mixed. Add the tomatoes and stir some more.

Cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes on a medium flame, stirring frequently.

Once the peppers are cooked, add the capers and oregano to the pan. Cook for 10 more minutes.

At this point, the Peperonata Napoletana should now be cooked.

Remove the lid and stir until the mixture is slightly thick. You should see the bottom of the pan when you drag the mixture with a wooden spoon.

Remove the Pepernata and serve it in a large bowl.

There are so many ways to eat Peperonata Napoletana. One of our favorites is to pair the dish with salad and bread to create a colorful, meat-free lunch.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.