In Italian cuisine Chili pepper is an essential ingredient. We, however, do not have the varieties, colors, shapes of Mexican or Thai. Ours are red (but often they born green), long as devil’s horns, big as a hand, medium, or small as a nail.
In addition, we hardly use it fresh: in our saucepans the chili is almost always dry, added at the beginning, together with garlic, to flavor the oil that is heating up and which will be the base for fantastic spaghetti with clams.
Chili peppers grow well in the heat, which is why they are widely used in southern Italian cuisine where they are grown, harvested and left to dry in the sun.
Calabrian chillies, very spicy, and large Sicilian ones with a sweet aftertaste are famous.
When I see chili seedlings on the market, especially at the end of spring, I always buy one: they are beautiful and very decorative. I let their lumpy fruits bloom, grow and dry out, without picking or using.
After a few months, when they are completely dry, I pick them up and crush them, obtaining a powder that I use to flavor the dishes.
ItaliancookingTIPS!
Two options: leave the powder as it is, or collect it in a small glass jar, completely covered with good oil. You get a super concentrated oil to add sparingly. A drop is more than enough, on a salad, on steak or on grilled vegetables, to give an unexpected spicy touch.
ItaliancookingTIPS!
If you try to do this, remember that the proportion between powder and oil must be 1: 1, that the jar must be kept in the shade.
Important: after use, check that the chili pepper is completely immersed in the oil to avoid mold.
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