Peperonata or Sauteed Peppers and Onions – Sauté Italian peppers, onion, tomatoes, with garlic, ground oregano, and fresh basil. A light summer side dish.
Peperonata – Sauteed peppers and onions
Have you noticed the colorful peppers at the market lately? You are gorgeous.
Here’s a quick and easy recipe for Italian peperonata, or sautéed peppers and onions with fresh plum tomatoes, garlic, and basil.
This is one of those “I almost ate the whole load” dishes that I reluctantly shared with my parents, who agreed they were great.
How to sauté onions and peppers
Peperonata recipes come in many versions; Some are cooked for a long time, others are cooked with potatoes or without tomatoes. This dish is certainly open to improvisation!
Rather than cooking the peppers until they were like a stew, we opted for lightly sautéing them so the veggies stay a little crispy. A perfect accompaniment to chicken or fish, these sautéed peppers and onions are great on bread or on their own.
By the way, we made a little video on how to cut peppers quickly and easily. Enjoy!
Peperonata (Fried Peppers and Onions)
ingredients
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1/4 Cup Extra virgin olive oil
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2 Red peppercored, cut into strips 2 1/2 to 3 inches long
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2 yellow pepperscored, cut into strips 2 1/2 to 3 inches long
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2 orange or green paprikacored, cut into strips 2 1/2 to 3 inches long
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1 big Onioncut into crescents
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4 cloves garlicthinly sliced
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1 tablespoon dried oregano
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1 tablespoon sugar
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4 to 5 Roma or others plum tomatoescored and diced
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Salt and pepper, taste
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1/2 Cup fresh basil leavesroughly torn
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lemon juice
method
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Sweat onions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onions. Sprinkle with a little salt and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the onions are just beginning to color.
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Add peppers:
Add the peppers and stir well to combine with the onions. Fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring often. The peppers should be al dente – cooked but with some crunch in them.
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Add Garlic:
Add the garlic and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
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Add salt, sugar, oregano:
Sprinkle some more salt over everything and add the sugar and dried oregano. Boil 1 minute.
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Add the diced tomatoes:
and continue cooking for just a minute.
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Add basil, black pepper, lemon juice:
Turn off the heat and mix in the torn basil. Grind some black pepper over everything. Squeeze some lemon juice over the dish just before serving.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 134 | calories |
| 9g | Fat |
| 13g | carbohydrates |
| 2g | protein |
