My most recent
farmers market find is the Jimmy Nardello sweet Italian frying pepper. I
have never tasted a pepper this sweet in my life and am now hooked.
Should you want
to grown your own, seeds for the Jimmy Nardello pepper are readily available
online at
Burpee’s and other seed catalogs and I think I will be growing them myself next year along with my Scotch
bonnets, Thai peppers and native chiltepin peppers. I have never before had the
urge to grow a sweet pepper! (Let’s be honest, Mark will grow the peppers for
me, and he will benefit from all the culinary wonders they/I provide for him!)
When the woman
at the vegetable stall asked what I was going to do with them, my first thought
was to stuff them and serve them as an appetizer or first course. “Well,
what exactly will you stuff them with?” Feeling a bit on the spot, I
responded, “Cheese and herbs, of course!”
And that is
pretty much what I did! Like many of my recipes, this one started with,
“What’s in the fridge today?” Greek yogurt (nonfat – from recent a
recent Indian meal), Parmigiana-Reggiano and pecorino Romano (refrigerator
standards), egg whites (leftover from some cake or other that I baked earlier
in the week), a paprika/cayenne blend (from some Thai cooking on Thursday) and
Greek oregano from Mark’s garden.
When you have a
great list of ingredients to start a recipe – about half Italian and half Greek
– how can you go wrong? In my
mind, Italian + Greek = Amazing!
I was
especially pleased, when considering these ingredients, with the low-fat aspect
of the recipe-to-come. The entire recipe has very few calories and yet
they are really filling. Oh, and they are delicious!
So, for my
Italian friends, “Buon appetito!” and for my Greek friends,
“Kali’ óreksi!”
– David
Roasted stuffed
Jimmy Nardello Peppers
10-12 Jimmy
Nardello sweet frying peppers
6 tablespoons
nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated
Parmigiana-Reggiano
1/4 cup grated
pecorino Romano
1/4 cup egg
white
2 tablespoons
chopped Greek oregano
1/8 teaspoon
sweet paprika
1/8 teaspoon
cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon
salt
freshly ground
black pepper
Heat a gas
grill or preheat broiler. Cook peppers for about 1 minute per side to soften
and slightly char. Let cool.
While the
peppers are cooling, mix all remaining ingredients well and put into a re-sealable
Ziploc storage bag. Chill until ready to stuff.
Using sharp
kitchen shears, very carefully slit the peppers from top to bottom. Again using
the shears, cut the top seed cluster from the stem and then gently using your
fingers, pull out the seeds and large ribs, being careful not to rip the
peppers. Place gutted peppers on a baking sheet.
Cut a 3/16-inch
corner off one side of the bag and use it as a pastry bag to pipe the filling
into the peppers.
Preheat broiler
to high. Place stuffed peppers under the broiler for 6 minutes or until
bubbling and browning in spots.
Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer or first course.
Anonymous
September 5, 2011 at 7:52 amRosted peppers are the best EVER, do these have a little kick to them? I would probably pay $2 each here. I salivate just smelling the outer layer crisp up on any type of pepper.
Anonymous
October 30, 2011 at 5:17 pmHello,
I am looking desperately Jimmy Nardello peppers sold fresh, I live in France and they are found. Can you help me, I definitely need to try soon …
Thanks a lot,
Lily
Cocoa & Lavender
October 31, 2011 at 4:43 amBonjour, Lily! Malheureusement, je ne sais pas où se trouve les poivrines "Jimmy Nardello." Peut-être vous pouvez acheter les graines sur l'Internet? Bonne chance!