As we approach the end of summer and autumn produce begins to appear in our markets, it’s easy to forget that, for a few more days at least, it’s still summer. Indeed, even as pumpkins and pears and such make their appearances, summer produce like peppers and tomatoes are still very much in season. So why not make use of them while we still can?

Last month we featured stuffed peppers filled with eggplant and breadcrumbs, a lovely antipasto. In previous summers we featured peppers stuffed with meat and tuna, both excellent secondi or main courses. This week we’re featuring a primo piatto or first course to round out our collection: peperoni ripieni di pasta, or Pasta Stuffed Peppers.

In this recipe, the peppers are stuffed with pasta—here the long thick pasta called bucatini—dressed with a puttanesca-ish tomato sauce and optionally enriched with bits of mozzarella, scamorza, caciocavallo or any meltable cheese you prefer. The peppers infuse the pasta with their sweet yet piquant aroma, transforming an otherwise typical Neapolitan pasta into something quite unique.

Of course, you could use canned tomatoes and greenhouse peppers and make this dish any time of year, but it’s at its best when made with seasonal ingredients, so do give this a try … while you still can!

Ingredients

Serves 6

12 bell peppers

For the filing:

500g (1 lb) bucatini or other pasta (see Notes)
500g (1 lb) fresh plum tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 1 large can of canned tomatoes, or a jar of passata di pomodoro
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
100g (3-1/2 oz) capers, rinsed
100g (3-1/2 oz) olives
100g (3-1/2 oz) anchovy fillets, cut up*
A pinch of dried oregano
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, finely minced
Salt and pepper

For baking:

olive oil

Optional:

500g (1 lb) eggplant, cubed and sautéed “a funghetto”
A ball of mozzarella, scamorza, caciocavallo or other meltable cheese, cut into cubes
Grated parmigiano-reggiano or pecorino romano, for topping

Directions

Trim off the tops of the peppers and remove the core, seeds and ribs from their insides. Parboil the peppers in abundant water for about 5-6 minutes, long enough to soften them a bit. They should remain firm enough, however, to stay standing.

In a large sauté pan, sauté the garlic briefly in olive oil, then add the tomatoes. Simmer until the tomatoes have melted and reduced to saucy consistency, about 15 minutes or so. Then add the olives and capers and let them simmer another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and fold in the oregano, parsley and anchovy fillets.

Meanwhile, boil the pasta in well salted water until ever so slightly underdone, say a minute less than indicated on the package.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cooked pasta and the tomato sauce and mix well.

Using tongs or a carving fork, twirl the pasta and fill the peppers with it, interspersing the pasta strands with bits of the mozzarella and/or eggplant if using. Top with any excess sauce and, if using the grated cheese.

Transfer the peppers to a well greased baking dish. Bake at in a moderate oven (180C/350F) for about 30 minutes, until heated through and lightly browned on top.

Let cool for at least 5 minutes or so before serving.

Notes

As you may remember from my stuffed pepper post earlier this summer, I generally don’t skin or pre-cook my peppers before filling them. But for peperoni ripieni di pasta, a quick parboil to soften a bit makes sense, as that means less time in the oven, which in turn makes it less likely you’ll overcook the pasta. (By the way, some recipes suggest parboiling will make the peppers peelable as ell, but that wasn’t the case for me.) Some recipes call for pre-roasting the peppers in a moderate oven for 15-30 minutes, yet others for frying them (q.v. our post from earlier this summer).

Last time I mentioned that I prefer stuffing my peppers open faced, and that’s mostly true, but I felt like a change. And in fact, I think when you’re stuffing peppers with pasta, you’re better off stuffing them standing up. This way, the pepper provides more protection against the oven’s intense heat and helps prevent the pasta from overcooking. Do take care, though, to find peppers that will stand up on their own. Often at least one of their ‘legs’ tends to be longer than another, leaving the pepper liable to keel over, spilling out your lovely pasta filling. No harm done, of course, even if it does. The dish will still taste delicious. But not exactly what you might want to serve your guests at a dinner party.

Variations

Francesconi’s recipe, which she styles peperoni imbottiti di maccheroni, calls for perciatelli, the name Neapolitans give to the long pasta most readers probably know as bucatini. Other traditional Neapolitan recipes call for spaghetti, which may be easier to find where you live. Long pasta isn’t the most intuitive choice for a filling but it’s actually works quite well. You need only have enough pasta skills you can twirl the strands into a small nest before gingerly inserting it into the pepper. That said, most modern recipes call for various kinds of smaller short pastas. So feel free to experiment.

The filling for peperoni ripieni di pasta, of course, lends itself to all sorts of flavorings. Francesconi suggests optionally adding eggplant cubed and lightly sautéed in olive oil and garlic— “a funghetto” as the Italians call it. See this post for the recipe. Personally I like interspersing the pasta with bits of fresh mozzarella, which adds a milky richness to the filling. Also quite common are scamorza or caciocavallo, both pasta filata cheeses like mozzarella but much firmer. They are hard to find Stateside, so a mild provolone or other melting cheese would do fine as well. Yet other recipes call for a sprinkling of pecorino romano. A few fresh basil leaves would lend a summery freshness to the sauce, instead of or even in addition to the oregano and parsley.

Like the eggplant and breadcrumb stuffed peppers we looked at back in August, peperoni ripieni di pasta can be easily veganized. Just omit the anchovies and any cheeses.

There are even recipes that take the filling in whole different direction, where you dress the pasta with a creamy, cheesy béchamel, sometimes with bits of cooked ham. I’d call that a different recipe that merits its own post, one of the these days…

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