Sweet and sour peppers in a jar, a Sicilian treasure enclosed in a jar! Ancient recipe from Grandma Maria.
The warm colors of our peppers – red like Etna’s fire, yellow like the midday sun, orange like sunsets over the sea – blend with the typical sweet and sour taste of our land.
Prepare them and bring a piece of Sicily to your table, to accompany meats, cheeses, or simply to savor summer all year round.
The beauty of this recipe? The ease with which you can always have them on hand in your pantry, perfect for an impromptu appetizer or to enrich a dish with a touch of unique color and flavor.
You can choose any type of pepper for this recipe.
Right now, I had small peppers at home, and they were quite ripe. So much so that I found hardly any yellow or orange ones; they were almost all red and some green.
Thought for you:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 3 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Sicily
- Seasonality: Summer, Autumn
- Energy 358.70 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 28.38 (g) of which sugars 27.03 (g)
- Proteins 3.40 (g)
- Fat 25.93 (g) of which saturated 3.55 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 6.78 (g)
- Sodium 140.79 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 400 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
Let’s go shopping
- 2.2 lbs peppers (of any type (net weight))
- 5.3 oz Tropea red onion (thinly sliced)
- 4 oz extra virgin olive oil (plus as needed)
- to taste salt
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 3 teaspoons sugar (or sweetener)
Sweet and sour peppers in a jar
Tools
What we need to prepare the
- 1 Pan 11 inches
- 1 Cutting Board
- 3 Jars 12 oz with airtight seal
- 1 Pot
- 1 Kitchen Towel
Steps
Let’s go to the kitchen to prepare the
The first thing to do is sterilize the jars. Boil them along with their lids for at least 30 minutes and then let them cool upside down on towels, then proceed with the recipe.
Wash the peppers.
Remove the stem and cut them in half, removing all seeds and white filaments.
Wash them again and then cut very thin strips about 1/5 inch wide and 2-2.5 inches long.
Next, take the onions and slice them lengthwise. Preferably use Tropea red onions, but if unavailable, any type of onion will do.
Take a rather large pan and pour in the olive oil. Heat it and add the onion, only when the onion is golden
add the peppers, a small pinch of salt, cover, and cook over high heat.
Occasionally uncover, stir, and toss the peppers in the pan throughout the cooking time, which will take about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of the peppers, and this varies depending on the type of pepper you use.
If you see that they dry out too much, you can add a small cup of water, but be careful not to add too much, otherwise, the sweet and sour will become diluted.
When the peppers are almost completely cooked, take a small cup and mix the vinegar with the sugar or sweetener.
Depending on your taste. Mix well, pour the contents of the cup into the pan, turn the heat to maximum, toss the peppers in the pan, and let all the vinegar evaporate.
At this point, take the previously sterilized jars, fill them almost to the top but below the threading, press down a bit to release air bubbles, and add the remaining cooking liquid in the pan, and if there’s not much left you can add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Close the jars immediately, take a pot, fill it halfway with water, place a towel at the bottom as a separator between the pot and the jars, place the jars, fill up to the rim of the jars,
lower the towel between them so they don’t bump into each other during boiling, add water up to the cap level and sterilize for about 20 minutes.
After the time has passed, leave the jars in the pot until they have warmed. Then take them out and let them cool.
Once cooled, you can store them in the pantry.
Storage
Sweet and sour peppers in a jar
If the jars have been properly sterilized and the vacuum has been done correctly, they can stay in the pantry for up to a year. Once opened, however, the jar must be consumed within a week and kept in the refrigerator.
Tips
The contents can be reheated again simply in the microwave or in a pan, although the flavor is enhanced at room temperature.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Sweet and sour peppers in a jar
How can I use this preserve besides as a side dish?
Besides being a great side dish, sweet and sour peppers can be used to dress pasta. You can also blend everything by adding dairy products such as mozzarella, ricotta, or cream.
