Peppers belong to the Solanaceae family and originate in Latin America. In the warmer countries their cultivation is continuous, in Italyinstead, their cycle ends with the arrival of the cold: perhaps it is also for this reason that, of any color, peppers abound in recipes to indulge themselves in the kitchen during the summer. They are largely composed of water (92%) and for this reason it is a food of reintegration and rich in mineral salts such as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron and calcium. In addition, the pepper contains a percentage of vitamin C four times greater than citrus fruits, strengthens the muscles and promotes the absorption of iron. The red peppers, in detail, have a high content of vitamin, while, regardless of the chromatic nuance, each fruit is also rich in vitamins of the group B, E, J and K. Potassium, on its part, contributes with carotene to guarantee diuretic properties with pepper, while the fiber makes it one of the foods useful for weight control. Are they enough as suggestions to try one of these quick and easy summer recipes?

In bittersweet

To prepare them in sweet and sour, both hot and cold, it is necessary first of all to equip yourself with four peppers, four tablespoons of vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, one of sugar, capers desalted, raisins and pine nuts, one hundred grams of green olives pitted, salt, breadcrumbs, pepper, sage and a few sprigs of thyme. After washing the peppers, you have to roast, peel and clean them of internal seeds and core. Then they are cut into strips of about a couple of centimeters wide and everything is put in a pan to brown with oil. Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and cook everything on a low heat until the vinegar has completely evaporated and the peppers have softened. At this point it is necessary to combine olives, capers, pine nuts and raisins, previously found in water. After having left to flavor for a few minutes, you can turn off the fire and enjoy when you feel like it, but not before having sprinkled everything with a little bread crumbs toasted, a few sage leaves and a few sprigs of thyme.

Ideas with pasta

By combining peppers with pasta, an excellent summer idea is that of a cold dish based on olives and basil. After draining the pasta, it is left to cool for a while, adding a little oil first, and in the meantime the peppers are cleaned and cut into strips. Then put the peppers in a bowl and season with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper and black olives. All the ingredients are mixed and left to marinate for a quarter of an hour, then the pasta dressing is used and with a few leaves of basil, you're done.

Fantasy with rice

Using the basmati rice, you can prepare delicious stuffed peppers in no time. Just first of all empty them again, blanch them in boiling salted water and then pass them in cold water to stop cooking. In the same water in which the peppers were cooked, the rice is boiled and once drained it is seasoned with cherry tomatoes, capers, olives, extra virgin olive oil and pepper. Mix the ingredients, fill the peppers and serve. A variant is the one with the addition of mortadella diced into the dressing.

Stuffed peppers

A great summer classic is instead the one represented by peppers stuffed with tuna. Blend 300 grams of drained tuna in a mixer together with an egg and two or three slices of crusty bread. Then cut a mozzarella into cubes and after drying it add it to the tuna mixture, also adding a spoonful of pine nuts and some chopped basil leaves. After washing and removing the seeds from about ten peppers, stuff them with the prepared mixture and put everything in a pan greased with oil. Before baking for about three quarters of an hour at 200 degrees, sprinkle the surface of the peppers with another spoon Pine nuts and breadcrumbs.

Peppers with chicken

With a kilo of chopped chicken, two peppers, six spoons of tomato pulp, an onion, oil, salt and half a glass of white wine you can prepare another not bad summer dish. Just as usual, wash and remove the peppers from seeds, cut them into strips and cook in a pan with salt and oil for the time necessary to brown everything. Once golden brown, yes adds the wine and let it evaporate. Finally add the tomato pulp, a few slices of onion and the peppers into strips, add a little water and cover with a lid, cooking for about an hour.

Marinated peppers

To enjoy a nice plate of peppers instead marinated just grill or bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for half an hour, place them still hot on a sheet of plastic wrap for twenty minutes and peel them. After removing the skin, seeds and white filaments, cut the peppers into strips and arrange them in an ovenproof dish, seasoning the fillets with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic and chopped parsley. Mix all the ingredients for and leave the peppers to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

Pepperoni bruschetta

A fresh and very fast appetizer is also represented by bruschetta diced peppers, as well as tomatoes to combine with crispy bread. Before dressing, mix both ingredients with extra virgin olive oil, chopped basil and salt.

Carpaccio of peppers

For a tasty carpaccio instead, with peppers, mozzarella and aubergines to be enjoyed in a summer lunch, four people serve: a yellow pepper, pepper, garlic, 300 grams of mozzarella (maybe buffalo mozzarella), three salad tomatoes, salt, an eggplant, an onion, vinegar , basil and olive oil. We start by cutting the aubergine a thin slices, to be grilled separately from the onion, cut in the same way. Then cook the pepper in the oven at 180 degrees for a quarter of an hour minutes. Then, wrap it in aluminum foil and let it cool down for a while. Then chop the pepper coarsely and put it in a pan with the grilled onion, four tablespoons of oil, two of vinegar, half a clove of minced garlic, salt, pepper and a few basil leaves. Now peel the tomatoes and cut them into slices, as well as the mozzarella. Finally everything is arranged in layers: pepper, mozzarella, tomato and aubergine. But be careful, before enjoying such a dish you need to let it rest for half an hour.

Pepper rolls

Then the rolls of red peppers with mozzarella and anchovies are very fast and decidedly summer. Wash the peppers, open them in half, remove the stem, seeds and white filaments and then cut them into flaps almost five centimeters wide. Boil them for a few minutes in salted boiling water and then drain them. On each flap you put a thin slice of mozzarella and a desalted anchovy fillet. Roll everything up and lock with one toothpick. At this point, pour the extra virgin olive oil into a baking dish, sprinkle the bottom of the baking dish with a spoonful of breadcrumbs and arrange the skewers next to each other. After wetting the rolls with another drizzle of oil, everything is cooked in the oven at 200 degrees for twenty minutes.

Peppers in puff pastry

Finally, another good idea is that of puff pastry with peppers, buffalo mozzarella and green olives. The filling is prepared with four peppers and 400 grams of mozzarella, all in thin slices. Peppers then go roasted in the oven and then peeled and seasoned with chopped rosemary leaves, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt and a sliced ​​garlic clove. In the meantime, after having pitted the olives and cut them in half, the puff pastry is seasoned and everything is closed before baking at 200 degrees for 15 minutes. A quarter of an hour later you will have to wait a little longer for the dish to cool down, but the wait will be rewarded with a decidedly flavor and aroma irresistible.

Recipes with peppers

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