Stuffed Neapolitan peppers

Stuffed peppers (puparuoli 'mbuttinati) simply always taste good. In Italy, too, they are often prepared with rice or meat. But not so in Naples! Here, a spicy mixture of capers, anchovies, bread and aubergine is baked in the colourful pods.

What the kitchen has to offer

In fact, it is probably the cuisine of the Kingdom of Naples that elevated rice to the main course. But both the cultivation of rice and its consumption long remained the preserve of the nobility in Italy. Neapolitan peppers, on the other hand, are a "poor man's food". In the beginning, they were not stuffed (ripieni) but rather topped (imbottiti) with what was left over in the kitchen: stale, soaked bread, a few anchovies, capers and, if there were any, a few olives. It was only later that new ingredients like aubergine were added.

Peppers for everyone

Today, stuffed peppers - puparuoli mbuttunati - are a refined, simple dish that has remained true to its origins. They taste good both hot and cold. This fits in with the Calabrian tradition of preparing all dishes in large quantities. In large families, food is never left over for long. But you should definitely "save" some of the stuffed peppers for the next day! Because for the really good taste - as they say in Calabria - the peppers have to rest: Per essere buoni i peperoni devono essere riposati.

📖 Recipe

Stuffed peppers

Stuffed peppers (puparuoli 'mbuttinati) simply always taste good. In Italy, too, they are often prepared with rice or meat.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course, starter

Cuisine Campania, Italian, with meat

Servings 4 servings

Calories 224.2 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Oven
• 1 oven dish

Ingredients

 

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• 4 peppers, yellow or red
• 2-3 small aubergines
• oil, for deep frying
• approx. 75g bread crust, white bread
• 4 anchovy fillets, in oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon capers, washed thoroughly
• 10 olives, green pitted
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• salt , to taste
• parsley, finely chopped

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (upper and lower heat). Wash the peppers, cut off a flat top including the stem. Remove the seeds and any flesh from the peppers. Wash the aubergines and cut into 1 cm cubes. Fry the aubergines in plenty of oil until crispy, remove and place on kitchen paper.
• Heat olive oil in a second pan and fry the breadcrumbs which were cut into small pieces. Add the garlic and the chopped olives, anchovies and capers and cook for a few minutes. Add the parsley and season to taste. In a bowl, mix the fried bread with the aubergines until a homogeneous mixture forms.
• Add the mixture to the peppers and cover with the "lid" of the pepper. Grease an oven dish with oil and place the peppers in it, ideally close together. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes at 200°C, then reduce the temperature to 180°C and cook for another 15 minutes.

Notes

Anchovies, capers and olives are very salty. So be sparing with the salt! Since I have been living in Austria, I often replace the white bread crust with diced bread rolls. This makes the filling more compact. Try it out and see which one tastes better for you.

Nutrition

Calories: 224.2 kcalCarbohydrates: 31.5 gProtein: 6.7 gFat: 9.9 gSaturated Fat: 1.5 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1.4 gMonounsaturated Fat: 6.4 gCholesterol: 2.4 mgSodium: 338.2 mgPotassium: 856.7 mgFiber: 10.5 gSugar: 13 gVitamin A: 703.6 IUVitamin C: 137.2 mgCalcium: 60.1 mgIron: 2.1 mg

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Buon appetito!