The spicy peppers stuffed with tuna are a tasty appetizer typical of Calabria and Southern Italy. Ideal as a side dish, they can also be served as an appetizer and paired with delicate cheeses like primo sale, while the preserving oil is perfect for flavoring pasta dishes and crostini.
The recipe is simple, preserved foods are not difficult to prepare but you must carefully follow the guidelines of the Ministry for perfect preservation. Summer offers many fantastic products that we can preserve in jars to enjoy even during winter. I love jams and homemade tomato sauce, try it too, I’m sure you won’t buy it anymore.
Today I will teach you how to prepare spicy peppers in oil with all the necessary precautions to avoid health risks.
The peppers used in this recipe are quite sweet, their level of spiciness is not overwhelming as one might think. The variety used is called “Calabrian round pepper” or “cherry”. In summer, it is easily available and not expensive. You can also grow a plant in a nice pot on the terrace, it will give you great satisfaction!
To make the tuna stuffed peppers, you need to clean them, briefly cook them in a pot with wine and vinegar, stuff them, and put them in oil.
Before moving on to the preparation, I leave you with my most read jam recipes:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Expensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 1.65 lbs of peppers
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 341.64 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 4.91 (g) of which sugars 2.11 (g)
- Proteins 8.99 (g)
- Fat 30.69 (g) of which saturated 4.48 (g)of which unsaturated 1.72 (g)
- Fibers 1.33 (g)
- Sodium 393.88 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 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
- 17.6 oz round spicy peppers
- 8.8 oz tuna in oil (drained)
- 2 tablespoons capers in salt (of Pantelleria or other variety as desired)
- 0.88 oz anchovies in oil (drained)
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- 8.8 oz white wine vinegar
- 8.8 oz dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon juniper berries
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- 2 sprigs dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
Tools
- 1 Pot
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Dish towel
- 1 Slotted spoon
- 1 Food processor
- 3 Jars glass with new lid, 8.8 oz
Procedure
Wash the peppers, dry them, and remove the stem and seeds. During this phase, I recommend using latex gloves or being very careful not to touch your face and eyes.
Put the wine, vinegar, slightly crushed juniper berries, bay leaves, peppercorns, oregano sprigs, and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil and immerse the peppers. Cook them for 5 minutes (adjust based on the size of your peppers, they should be al dente otherwise they will become too soft with pasteurization) then drain them and place them on a dish towel with the opening facing down. Let them dry overnight.
The next morning, prepare the filling.
Put the drained tuna, desalted capers, and anchovy fillets in the food processor and blend for 40 seconds. Fill each pepper with the tuna cream and place a caper in the center. Arrange the peppers in sterilized glass jars (find the sterilization procedure at the end of the recipe) and fill them with oil to the brim.
Tap the jars on the work surface to remove any air bubbles and ensure the oil perfectly covers all the peppers.
Close the jars with new lids and decide how to proceed; if you make a few and consume them within a short time, you can store them in the refrigerator (for a couple of weeks) otherwise you must pasteurize them; preserved foods are the preserves with the highest risk of bacterial contamination, if you do not follow the correct procedure, you risk serious health problems.
Wrap the jars with clean cloths and place them in a large pot with high edges, cover them with plenty of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and pasteurize the jars for 20 minutes.
Once the indicated time has passed, turn off the heat and let the jars cool completely in the water.
The spicy peppers stuffed with tuna are ready, serve them as an appetizer or side dish to your preferred dishes.
Advice
How to sterilize jars before use
It is very important to sterilize the glass jars in which our jams will be stored, the most used methods are the boiling sterilization and steam oven.
To perform sterilization, the simplest method is to place them in a steam oven at 212°F (100°C) for 60 minutes. If you cannot do this, you need to place the jars (with the opening facing up) in a very large pot with high edges, cover them abundantly with tap water, bring it to a boil, and sterilize them for 45 minutes. Then add the lids and continue boiling for another 15 minutes. To prevent the jars from hitting each other, line the pot with a clean cotton towel.
After 60 minutes, remove the jars and lids and let them dry upside down on a very clean towel. Here I leave you the Ministry of Health document for preparing preserves at home.
The jars are ready for use, but perform this operation only shortly before filling them; if you leave them at room temperature for a long time, you will need to repeat the sterilization.
How long do spicy peppers stuffed with tuna last?
If you have correctly sterilized them, they last for 6 months in a cool and dry place.
Can the preserving oil be used?
Certainly, the oil remaining in the jars is delicious for dressing salads or flavoring pasta dishes and crostini.
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