Stuffed hot cherry peppers in oil
( Peperoncini ripieni sott'olio )

Recipe for homemade hot cherry peppers filled with tuna, in oil

Preparation and cooking

• - Prepare hot cherry peppers.
  Use a pair of gloves because they are usually very spicy.
  Cut off their tops.
  Remove their seeds by a teaspoon, a finger of yours or the tip of a knife, depending on their size.
  The remaining part of every cherry pepper must be intact.
  Wash them.
  Pay attention to this stage because they emit vapors really irritating in contact with water.
• - Boil cherry peppers.
  Meanwhile bring to a boil a solution made with equal parts of vinegar and salted water. 700ml water plus 700ml vinegar.
  When it is boiling pour in cherry peppers.
  Be careful all peppers are well immersed in the solution.
  Bring to a boil again and cook for two minutes.
  Drain them.
• - Let hot cherry peppers dry.
  Arrange your cherry peppers on a tray and let them dry, turning at least once, covered by a towel.
  You'll need from a minimum of 12 hours to a maximum of 24 hours, depending on the outside temperature.
• - Prepare jars.
  Meanwhile let jars boil for 20 minutes, well covered with water.
  Let them dry very well, covered by a towel.
• - Prepare all other ingredients.
  Drain tuna from its preserving water, break it on a plate with a fork, season with 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil, chives and parsley, and mix thoroughly.
  Prepare capers well drained by vinegar (100 or more depending on your taste) and chopped anchovy fillets (consider at least a piece for each pepper) on a plate.
• - Fill your cherry peppers.
  Stuff every cherry pepper with a bit of your tuna mixture and put one or two pieces of anchovies and two capers on the top.
  Lightly squeeze the contents with your fingers.
  Arrange stuffed cherry peppers in every jar, pressing them a bit.
• - Fill the jars with olive oil up to 1-2 cm from the end and cork.
• - The sterilization.
  Put your jars right side up in a high pot.
  Cover with enough water to boil for at least 30 minutes.
  Bring the water to a boil and let your jars boil for at least 30 minutes.
  Make sure the jars are never uncovered and do not interrupt this process by diluting with water at a lower temperature.

Note

Tips

• - Doses are enough for 4 250ml jars.
• - Read carefully all the directions for the sterilization written on the package by the manufacturer.
• - You can use only red hot chilly peppers.
• - If you have small cherry peppers boil them only for 1 minute instead of 2.

Menu planning

• - Serve these stuffed cherry peppers in an assorted Italian antipasto combined with meat or fish dishes. For example crostini, canapés, assorted salami, eggs, paté ...
• - Another idea is to serve them as side dish. Imagine them to accompany grilled meat or calamari or arrosticini.

Useful links for this recipe

• - You could be interested in arrosticini recipe.
• - Another example in which I used stuffed hot cherry peppers as side dish: citrus-flavored amberjack.
• - To browse easily our website I remember you to click on green button in the navigation bar. You'll go back to our home page for Italian cooking :))

Healthy eating

• - As you may have noticed I calculated no calories, fat and sugar for these cherry peppers in oil.
  It 's impossible to make an accurate count.
  But you have to consider that you shouldn't eat them very often ;)

Loretta