Peperoncini Ripieni sott'olio

Peperoncini Ripieni sott'olio

Recipe by Traditional

WARNING! This recipe is a traditional Italian approach to preserving. It does not meet USDA home canning standards.

Ingredients

• 2 lb Ripe Red Calabrese Peppers
• 2 cups White Wine Vinegar
• 24 oz Canned Tuna
• 2 or 3 Salt Packed Anchovies
• 2 Tbs Salt Packed Capers
• Olive Oil

Cooking Directions

1. Carefully wash the peppers and discard any that are soft or discolored.





2. Cut out the green stem cap and remove the seed pod from the peppers. A small measuring spoon or melon baller makes the latter an easy task. Although these are not particularly hot peppers by American standards they still pack a punch so if you're sensitive to capsaicin wear rubber or plastic gloves to protect your skin.
3. Place the vinegar and an equal amount of water in a non-reactive and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Optional: Add some aromatic spices to the vinegar mixture: 2 bay leaves, a few peppercorns, cloves or even juniper berries. I've got bay leaves and peppercorns in there.

5. Carefully place the cleaned peppers in the boiling mixture and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the peppers from the vinegar mixture. Depending on the size of your peppers you may have to do this in a couple batches. 

6. Place the peppers open end down on a clean towel, cover with another towel and let dry over night.
7. Prepare the tuna filling: Drain the canned tuna, rinse and clean the anchovies, rinse the capers. Place all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse for a few seconds until the mixture is smooth but still has some texture.





8. Using a small spoon fill each pepper with the tuna mixture. Press down gently to enure there are no air pockets.
9. Prepare quart jars, bands and new lids according to the manufacturer's directions.
10. Carefully load the stuffed peppers into the jars, packing as tightly as possible without crushing them.
11. Optional: Add a couple Giganti di Pantelleria capers to each jar as you pack it.
12. WARNING! The following instructions are not USDA approved.
13. Fill the jars with olive oil leaving a 1 inch head space. Tap the jars gently on your cutting board to dislodge any air bubbles.
14. Wipe the rims and seal the jars carefully.
15. Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Let cool in the water, remove, dry, label and store in a cool dark place.
16. USDA Hot Pack Method:
17. Combine 1 1/4  cups white vinegar (5%) and 1 cup olive oil in a non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil.
18. Fill jars with the hot vinegar and oil mixture leaving a 1 inch head space. Tap the jars gently on your cutting board to dislodge any air bubbles.
19. Wipe the rims and seal the jars carefully.
20. Process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes. Let cool in the water, remove, dry, label and store in a cool dark place.

Notes: 

Yes, of course you can leave out the anchovies. But don't. They're an extremely important flavor component. Once you start using them nothing tastes right when they're left out.

You'll likely have some tuna mixture left over. Just add a little mayonnaise and some diced celery and you've got tuna salad.  

It took about 1 1/2 cups of of oil to top off the two quart jars I made.

If you use tuna canned in water it will probably be too dry to stay put in the peppers during the canning process and your jars will look like this:

They'll still taste good, but they won't look so great. The solution of course is to mix in enough olive oil to form a coherent paste that stuffs well.