Peperonata Recipe

A classic Italian dish. It is extremely versatile and can be used in many different ways, such as over pasta, as a condiment on a sandwich, it can be eaten by itself with some crusty bread, served with a grilled salsiccia, and many other pairing options. In this book, I offer a recipe that uses the peperonata over pasta, and it is absolutely fantastic! Tasting Guidelines: Taste is savory and peppery. Weight is light but can be balanced with red wine and sugar. Texture is soft. Good for people with low to moderate treatment side effects. Best categorized as Italian.

Peperonata Recipe

A classic Italian dish. It is extremely versatile and can be used in many different ways, such as over pasta, as a condiment on a sandwich, it can be eaten by itself with some crusty bread, served with a grilled salsiccia, and many other pairing options. In this book, I offer a recipe that uses the peperonata over pasta, and it is absolutely fantastic! Tasting Guidelines: Taste is savory and peppery. Weight is light but can be balanced with red wine and sugar. Texture is soft. Good for people with low to moderate treatment side effects. Best categorized as Italian.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Course: Main Course, Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pasta, peperonata, recipes, red sauce
Servings: 6 people
Author: Chef Ryan Callahan
Cost: $10

Equipment

  • large spaghetti pot
  • can opener

Ingredients

Food Ingredients:

  • 4 bell peppers red green, yellow, sliced into thin long strips, think fettuccine noodle
  • 1 large can tomatoes diced
  • 2 medium red onions sliced long and thin
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil

Flavor Balancers:

  • kosher salt
  • 1-2 c. red wine any kind will do
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1-2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sugar

Aromatics:

  • 2 tbsp. garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp. dried oregano

Instructions

  • In a spaghetti pot, bring oil to medium-low heat. Add garlic, onions, green peppers, and black pepper. You want to sweat them. You want to cook everything until the onions begin to caramelize and the green peppers start breaking down. It is better to go low and slow with cooking temperature for this recipe.
  • Deglaze pan with red wine after onions are caramelized and peppers are broken down. Reduce wine. After wine has been reduced, add tomatoes and dried oregano and vinegar.
  • Cook on a medium heat, stirring often to avoid burning, until diced tomatoes break down. You will know when this happens because the tomatoes will look less like tomatoes and more like marinara. I like to use a whisk to mash the tomatoes with while cooking.
  • After about 45 minutes of cooking the tomatoes, taste the sauce specifically looking for acidity and saltyness. Add 1/4 c. of sugar, and stir well. Allow to simmer 5 minutes. Taste sauce again. Take note of acidity and saltyness. If sauce is still very acidic, add another 1/4 c. of sugar. Repeat this method until sauce is no longer acidic and has a mellow pleasant flavor.
  • The very last step you do is add salt if required. Do not add salt as you go. Add very small amounts of salt at the very end, using the same simmer, add, taste method. Do not add salt a 1/4 c. at a time. Only add salt in small measurements if needed.

Notes

Peperonata is great as a snack when served with bread. Peperonata is fantastic over pasta and is good when used as a condiment for meat or sausage sandwiches. A side thought: at home I use between 4 and 8 oz. of Italian sausage added to the beginning of this recipe when I use it as a pasta sauce. The only issue with this is, for chemo, sausage can be very heavy, and chemo patients tend to have trouble keeping down heavy foods. One way you can solve this is by buying Italian salsiccia in link form and baking those off separately. Slice them like you would hot dogs for a little kid, and try a little bit at a time. Garnish over the pasta.

Cooking for Chemo focuses on teaching you how to make your food taste good again during cancer and chemotherapy treatments. The flavor and cooking techniques contained within our easy to make recipes will help improve your quality of life as you go through cancer and chemotherapy treatments. Our cooking and flavor techniques can be integrated with any diet regimen. Talk with your dietitian to come up with a quality nutrition plan. This site is not to be taken as or used instead of professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor, oncologist, and dietitian before starting any new diet.

This recipe is taken from Cooking for Chemo …and After! By Chef Ryan Callahan -The Cancer Chef. For more cooking for chemotherapy recipes like this, you can pick up a copy on Amazon . Have specific questions? Email us at [email protected]

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