Italian Sweet Frying Peppers are stuffed with Italian sausage, spinach, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. An absolutely addicting stuffed pepper recipe that’s easy enough for a very special weeknight dinner.
Did anyone notice this basket of Italian Sweet Frying Peppers that appeared in my Pete Polombo slide show? This is the first time in my life I remember seeing them available for sale. When I googled “Italian Frying Peppers”, one entry indicated that these peppers are the same as Cubanella peppers. Any experts out there?
Whatever they are, I love them. Offering a sweet yet intense “pepper” flavor, something about them screams “It’s Amore”. I wish I could find these peppers year round, they’d definitely amp up my Italian recipes. From what I read about them, being medium fleshed makes them an excellent candidate for frying.
A sack full of these delicious Italian sweet frying peppers made their way home with me and voila, the next day I opened up Food and Wine Magazine and saw this recipe for Stuffed Italian Sweet Frying Peppers. It was meant to be. 🙂
This recipe comes together easily and is simply delicious. The peppers are so unique in flavor that I will not try this recipe with regular green bell peppers, but will wait to prepare this until when I can get my hands on some more Italian Sweet Frying Peppers. Thank you Grace Parisi of Food and Wine for a great and savory combination.
The only variation I made was to tear off some small chunks of fresh mozzarella and insert here and there into the stuffed peppers. I liked the addition and will alter the recipe for my database.
Recipe for Spinach Sausage Stuffed Italian Sweet Frying Peppers
I hope you can find some Italian Sweet Frying Peppers and if you do, please give this wonderful recipe a try. And if you do, please come back, give the recipe a star rating and leave a comment about your experience.
And if you have an Italian Sweet Frying Peppers recipe, please let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
Italian Sweet Frying Peppers are stuffed with Italian sausage and spinach, breadcrumbs and Parmesan. An absolutely addicting stuffed pepper recipe.
- 5 ounce bag baby spinach
- 2 slices white sandwich bread finely chopped
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
- 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage casings removed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 8 small or 4 large Italian frying peppers halved lengthwise and cored, stems left intact
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- A few chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese to poke here and there into the stuffed peppers
- In a very large skillet, cook the spinach over high heat just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain and press out all of the water. Coarsely chop the spinach. Rinse out and dry the pan.
- In a large bowl, knead the chopped bread with the milk, egg and cheese to form a paste. Knead in the pine nuts, onion, sausage and spinach and season lightly with salt and pepper. Using lightly moistened hands, divide the mixture among the pepper halves and lightly pack it in. Add chunks of fresh mozzarella gently pressing into the stuffed peppers.
- In the skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the stuffed peppers, filling side down, and cook over high heat until well-browned, about 4 minutes. Turn the peppers and cook until the skins are browned and blistered, about 4 minutes longer. Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth, cover and simmer until the sausage filling is cooked through and the peppers are tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve right away.
Looking to stuff more peppers? How about this Mediterranean version for:
Lemony Greek Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed Italian Sweet Frying Peppers…
It’s What’s For Dinner.
Steph@PlainChicken says
September 20, 2010 at 2:03 pmLooks great! I’ll have to keep my eye out for these peppers.
leaannbrown says
September 21, 2010 at 10:57 pmIt’s worth the search. As always thanks for stopping by Stephanie.
mick says
September 20, 2010 at 2:25 pmYes, we’ve been selling them as Cubanelle peppers every summer at Tony’s for ages – direct from our farmer Carl Musso in Pueblo. They’re big with Italians on the east coast and are usually sauteed alone or with onions and Italian sausage or any sausage – even over hot dogs. My dad, Tony, grills them on aluminum foil sheets with olive oil, salt, pepper and Italian herbs. They are very mild, thin walled and they turn red when very ripe. The season is nearing it’s end, but we have them every day at Tony’s – get them while you can!
Connie says
January 26, 2019 at 2:16 pmCubanelle are not Italian frying peppers! Totally different!
Barbara says
September 20, 2010 at 3:04 pmAsk and you’ll get answers.! Whether from Food and Wine or bloggers. These look super, Lea Ann. I wonder if I can get them here? I’ll ask at Whole Foods when I go tomorrow.
Adding cheese can’t help but improve any recipe! 🙂
leaannbrown says
September 21, 2010 at 10:45 pmThank you Barbara. By the way, I’ve never ever seen them at Whole Foods. Hope you find them.
Dave says
September 20, 2010 at 7:26 pmLooks great. We get these every so often and roast them with onions and sweet Italian sausages. They freeze well, so stock up if you get the chance.
My Kitchen in the Rockies says
September 20, 2010 at 2:43 pmSo, when are we going to buy these peppers at the Market up in Brighton together? Can’t wait. My family would love this recipe.
Joanne says
September 21, 2010 at 4:00 pmIt’s so rare that I ever find ingredients like this when I actually need them! I think Italian frying peppers are cubanelles, but I’m not sure. Whatever they’re called, this looks fantastic! Love that stuffing.
joseph says
November 12, 2017 at 9:37 ama A cubanell is a totally diff. pepper there several types of fryers, Marconi is a great one , accanagua , easy to grow get seed ,tomatogrowers .com ,, victory seed , baker creek some grow to 9 inches pick green with a little red ,great in salad raw !!!!
Connie says
January 26, 2019 at 2:15 pmI agree! Totally different peppers! We grew our own Italian fryers. They were more similar to Goat horns but not as long. Cubanelle are a poor substitute
Chilebrown says
September 22, 2010 at 4:34 amI love peppers!
Zia Liz says
September 22, 2010 at 1:45 amThese look lovely! Although I admit I have no idea what kind of pepper they are. Mmmmm… peppers 🙂
Larry says
September 23, 2010 at 12:32 pmYour stuffed peppers look super good. If you still have some give this a try. Slice longwise into three flat pieces, remove seeds and fry in olive oil until softened – add S&P. Make a sandwich of just the fried peppers (2-3 layers thick), mayo and your favorite bread. First time I tried it I couldn’t believe how good it was.
Barbara says
September 23, 2010 at 12:37 pmWanted you to know Lea Ann, that the yellow AND blue coffee cups were both purchased years ago at Crate and Barrel for $1 a cup! (I have a lot of coffees, teas and meetings so needed lots of them.) They continue to have really good prices on things like that.
girlichef says
September 23, 2010 at 1:23 pmI love it when stuff like that happens!! I’ve never cooked with cubanelles…haven’t seen them around here before…but I totally want to now! This sounds delish, LeaAnn 🙂
Biren @ Roti n Rice says
September 23, 2010 at 4:43 pmStuffed vegetables are such a treat and these stuffed peppers look so delicious. I will have to make lots of these at our home.
Kristi Rimkus says
September 24, 2010 at 2:50 amThis is football season in my house. We are big football fans and this looks like the perfect football watching food!
Chris says
September 26, 2010 at 6:16 pmThese are freaking awesome! You should link those up at Tailgate Time (http://seasidesimplicity.blogspot.com/2010/09/tailgating-time.html) because I agree with Kristi.
I love cubanelles but I’m no expert, so I don’t know if they are the same. But I’ll certainly try this with cubanelles!
Vickie says
September 27, 2010 at 12:32 pmI’ve been out for over a week and you’ve been busy! These look delicious and I can almost taste that combintation of flavors. Plus, I love anything with peppers. I saw some of these in California at the farmer’s market – the grower said they were not as spicy as Annaheims, so I didn’t get them. If I’d seen this post, I would have marched right back and grabbed some. Great find!
Karen says
September 28, 2010 at 8:43 pmI’ve never had these peppers, but they sound great and I love the stuffing with the spinach and sausage!
FOODESSA says
September 29, 2010 at 10:47 amLea Ann…you made me realize how I have abandoned these very good peppers…I should use them more often. Very appetizing recipe and pics ;o)
Flavourful wishes,
Claudia
lisa says
September 8, 2012 at 1:46 pmMy parents grow a ton of these every summer. They remove seeds hollow out whole and stuff w italian bread, romano cheese. Fresh tomato, egg, fresh garlic, salt. Put in oven w olive oil and let them oven fry.
Lea Ann says
September 9, 2012 at 12:55 pmThanks for stopping by and the comment. I’m loving your description of the oven fry. Thanks for that!
lisa says
September 13, 2012 at 5:25 amI made these last night but used.what I had on hand: dry chorizo, 8 oz. For the sausage, no extra salt , kale for the spinach, put in oven drizzled w olive oil at 350 for about an hour, no chicken stock but would peob work substituted for olive oil. They came out like delicious little poppers. No tomato sauce necessary
Lea Ann says
September 13, 2012 at 6:24 amThanks so much for taking the time to let me know. I agree, this is the kind of dish that would work so well with what was on hand. I need to find some this fall at our markets. Haven’t seen any yet.
Angie says
June 23, 2015 at 6:01 pmGreat info..I live in ohio and was told these were so much better than banana peppers..my plant has 1 and lots of one’s starting..excited to try them out..I know NOTHING about them
Angie says
June 23, 2015 at 6:04 pmWhen is the right time to pick them…will they be different colors or just green? I’m sorry just started growing a little garden for the first time..need a little help from you pros!!! 🙂 🙂
Lea Ann Brown says
June 26, 2015 at 6:23 amI’m not a pro at all. I purchased these from our Farmer’s Market Angie. But I think peppers can be pretty easy. The only ones I’ve ever seen were green.
Connie says
January 26, 2019 at 2:24 pmJust wanted to say that Cubanelles are not at all the same as Italian frying peppers! Italian frying peppers are a dark green color with patches of black sonetimes. They are slightly smaller than Cubanelles and not as big around. You would come closer to taste using “Goat horns”, which are much longer and sometimes even skinnier. We grew our own Italian frying peppers all my growing up years. Wish l had known to save the seeds. They are almost impossible to find today. Cubanelles are nowhere near the same thing.
Lea Ann Brown says
January 27, 2019 at 11:10 amThanks so much for your note Connie. I’ve not found these peppers again since the day I bought them in this post. I’d really like to find them again.