The market had proper autumn peppers this morning — the long, sweet kind, deep red and gold and green — and I couldn’t resist a whole basket of them. The signora and I got to talking and she told me her mother’s way of doing peperonata, which was basically to let the peppers and onions get good and jammy over the lowest heat, no rushing, until the whole kitchen smells like the south of Italy. So that’s what I did this afternoon: a slow pot of peppers with onion, garlic, and a little tomato, and I had it with bread and a glass of wine while the light went golden. September keeps handing me these small afternoons that don’t need anything more than themselves.
While it simmered I was thinking about how I’d have lost that recipe entirely if I hadn’t happened to stand at the right stall at the right time — and it reminded me of a habit I use on the computer when I can’t remember where I put something. The find command will search a whole folder (and everything inside it) for a file by name, so instead of clicking through endless directories you can just type find . -name "peppers*" and it hands you the exact path, the way the signora handed me her mother’s trick. Both are really the same small victory: knowing exactly where the thing you want is living, instead of digging blindly.
I’ve decided the pepper basket is going to become a standing Sunday thing while the season lasts. There’s something deeply satisfying about a pot that starts bright and loud and ends up soft and quiet, the way the day itself seemed to. I’ll be eating this for days, and I don’t mind that one bit.
Recipe: Peperonata
Ingredients
- 4–5 long sweet peppers (red, gold, green), sliced into strips
- 2 onions, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ripe tomato, chopped (or 3 tablespoons passata)
- a splash of white wine (optional)
- salt and black pepper
- a few basil leaves
Preparation
- Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook gently until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook another minute, then add the peppers, a pinch of salt, and stir well.
- Lower the heat, add the tomato and the wine if using, and cook uncovered, stirring now and then, until the peppers are completely soft and jammy, 30–40 minutes.
- Taste, adjust salt and pepper, and tear the basil over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature with bread.