# Sweet Italian Peppers - Can I Use These?



## Mylegsbig (Apr 15, 2006)

i was at the grocer today getting the stuff for my sunday italian sauce and i saw some red sweet italian peppers







How can i incorporate these into my sunday sauce?

here is the sauce

28 oz can whole tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup porcini mushroom spring water(from soaking)
1/2 cup chianti dry red wine
1 pound ground beef
8 oz hot italian sausage
oregano
sweet basil


those are main components

any ideas on if i can use these peppers?

cheers.

also what do these taste like?

thanks in advance

legsbig


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## ironchef (Apr 15, 2006)

You would probably saute it in the beginning (no onions in your sauce?) along with the onion, garlic, and meat but you'd have to add a good amount for it to have any impact on flavor. You could add it near the end to give a different texture and crunch but doing it that way just wouldn't seem to fit the theme of your sauce--a rich, thick, slow cooked ragu. 

I wouldn't put them in the sauce at all. I'd use them fresh or roast them and use them in a salad, a topping for bruschetta, etc.


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## Mylegsbig (Apr 15, 2006)

lol i forgot about the onion.  Yes 1 small diced onion.

****, that's a shame. i have nothin else to use em on, and they are good looking peppers.  ill throw em in anyway.


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## BreezyCooking (Apr 15, 2006)

Those peppers - green or red - are delicious cut in strips, sauteed in some olive oil with some sliced onions until soft, & piled on top of a sausage hero sandwich - with or without tomato sauce.


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## Constance (Apr 15, 2006)

MyLeg, those are wonderful peppers. I'd saute them in with the onions. They'll add a wonderful depth of flavor to your sauce. 
When I had the greenhouses, my older Italian gardeners used to bring me seed they'd saved to start for them, and I finally started growing the peppers and saving seed myself. 
Of course, there are a lot of other things sweet Italian peppers are good for, as Ironchef said. One thing an Italian friend of mine used to do for an hors d'ouevres was roast and peel the peppers, then put in good olive oil with minced garlic and anchovies. Talk about good for bruschetta!


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## grumblebee (Apr 15, 2006)

Roast them and put them on pizza! Mmm. It's also good sliced up and put in a big fresh spinach salad with some goat cheese and herby vinegrette. Or stuffed with capers, black olives, feta and bread crumbs and roasted just until cooked but not mushy.


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## Constance (Apr 15, 2006)

grumblebee said:
			
		

> Roast them and put them on pizza! Mmm. It's also good sliced up and put in a big fresh spinach salad with some goat cheese and herby vinegrette. Or stuffed with capers, black olives, feta and bread crumbs and roasted just until cooked but not mushy.



Yum, Grumblebee...love your ideas..especially that last one.


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## mish (Apr 15, 2006)

If you like stuffed peppers, here's a recipe I think might work? with the sweet peppers. Or stuffed with Italian sausage, rice, onions, chopped peppers, mozzarella & tomato sauce:

*Spicy Stuffed Peppers*
*Serving Size : 4*​ 
Use the long pointed Spanish peppers or ordinary red bell peppers.​ 
2 red peppers
1 to 2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 spring onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1/3 cup rice
1 large or 2 small chilis, diced
1 cup vegetable stock
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
Small bunch fresh coriander, chopped
4.5 ounces blue cheese
Salt and black pepper
1 ripe avocado and 4 tbsp sour cream​ 
Make filling by heating oil in a pan and sauting onions, garlic and pine nuts for 5 minutes until nuts just start to brown.​ 
Stir in rice and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes stirring all the while. Stir in the stock and chilis and cook over a low heat until rice is cooked through, stirring frequently.​ 
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 F. When rice is just cooked, stir in tomatoes, herbs and 3.5 oz of the cheese. Season to taste.​ 
Slice peppers in half lengthwise, keeping stalk intact if possible. Discard pits and any inner stalk. Fill each half with the rice and cheese mixture, place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Mix together the remaining cheese and sour cream then chill.​ 
Serve with sliced avocado topped with the sour cream.​


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