Peperoncini

Peperoncini from Italy

If you like spicy food in the kitchen, you can’t avoid using peperoncini when cooking. Peperoncini is the Italian name for chili peppers, Latin Capsicum annuum. Like many other nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco), it came to Europe from the New World. The similar pungency to pepper gave rise to new names for the plant in Europe: paprika, pepperone, peperoni, peperoncino. In Italy, the hot peppers are grown particularly in the south. Calabria in particular is known for its spicy cuisine, in which many of the red peppers are used.

Peperoncini sott’olio and peperoncini ripieni

Peperoncini

Peperoncini can be bought fresh or dried. In Calabria, dried peppers often hang in umbels in front of the houses in the villages. The intense red pods are a popular photo motif. However, it goes without saying that peperoncini are rarely eaten raw, but rather stuffed or preserved in oil. They can be found in stores as peperoncini sott’olio. Stuffed peperoncini are called peperincini ripieni. We have many varieties of these in our store: Stuffed peperoncini from Calabria, stuffed peperoncini with anchovies and capers, stuffed peperoncini with tuna and peperoncini ripieni with nduja, a southern Italian spicy sausage specialty.

Penne all’arrabbiata with peperoncini

Peperoncini in pasta sauces

Peperoncini can also be used to prepare pasta sauces. They are indispensable in penne all’arrabbiata, the recipe for which can be found in our collection. In summer, the spicy peppers stimulate the circulation and cool you down. In winter, they warm you up from the inside and clear your nose with their spiciness. Apart from that, they are the best thing ever for spiciness fans.
My mouth is watering just writing this. I wonder if you feel the same way when you read and look at the pictures.

Peperoncini in Americo Quattrociocchi’s garden