Pepperoncini are small, mild, wrinkled yellow-green Capsicum annuum peppers, usually sold pickled. The name causes confusion: in Italy, peperoncino means hot chilli, not these mild peppers.
What it is¶
Pepperoncini are small, mild Capsicum annuum peppers, 5–8 cm long, thin-walled and wrinkled, picked yellow-green and almost always sold pickled in brine or vinegar. At 100–500 SHU they have only the faintest warmth, well below a jalapeño, and their flavour is mainly tangy and slightly bitter.
The name needs care. In North America "pepperoncini" (a variant of the Italian plural peperoncini) means these mild pickled peppers, most of which are the Greek type, sometimes sold as "Greek peppers" or "Tuscan peppers". In Italy, peperoncino means any hot chilli, above all the small fiery red chillies of Calabria, crushed into chilli flakes or used in 'nduja. An Italian recipe that calls for peperoncino wants heat, not a mild pickle.
Pepperoncini are closely related in use to the Italian friggitello, a sweet frying pepper (see padron and shishito for the Spanish and Japanese equivalents), and to the pickled guindilla of the Basque Country.
Origins and history¶
Chillies reached Italy and the eastern Mediterranean in the sixteenth century, and both hot and mild types took root. Mild, thin-walled peppers for pickling became part of the preserving traditions of Greece and southern Italy. The pickled pepperoncino as a product is largely an American story: Greek and Italian immigrants brought their peppers and pickles to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the jar of pepperoncini became a standard of Italian-American delis, pizzerias and Greek diners. Today much of the pickled pepperoncini sold in North America is grown in Greece or Turkey. See italian cuisine and greek cuisine.
Flavour and aroma¶
Pickled pepperoncini taste tangy, briny and a little bitter, with a mild sweetness and just a flicker of heat. The thin, wrinkled skin gives a tender crunch, and the peppers are full of pickling liquid, which squirts out when bitten. Fresh pepperoncini, rarely sold, taste grassy and sweet, much like a shishito.
In the kitchen¶
Pepperoncini are an antipasto and sandwich pepper.
- Antipasti: on a platter with salami, provolone, olives and marinated vegetables.
- Salads: in American Greek salads and Italian chopped salads; a splash of the brine in the dressing.
- Sandwiches: sliced into Italian subs, muffulettas and Greek gyros.
- Pizza: scattered over, or served on the side.
- Braises: whole pepperoncini and a splash of their brine cooked with beef chuck make the tangy, tender pot roasts popular in the American South; the vinegar helps balance the richness of the meat.
- Cocktails: a pepperoncino in a Bloody Mary or Martini instead of an olive.
💡 Use the brine
The pickling liquid is seasoned vinegar. Add a spoonful to vinaigrettes, potato salad, tuna mayonnaise or pan sauces for pork chops for a mild, peppery tang.
To stuff them, slit fresh or pickled pepperoncini lengthways, remove the seeds and fill with soft cheese or tuna mixed with herbs.
Buying and storing¶
Unopened jars keep for a year or more. Once opened, keep refrigerated with the peppers covered by brine, and use within a couple of months. Fresh pepperoncini, if you grow them, keep a week or two in the fridge and are best pickled soon after picking: pack them into jars, prick each once with a knife so the brine can get in, and cover with hot brine of equal parts vinegar and water with 1 tbsp salt per 500 ml.
Substitutes¶
- Pickled banana peppers: similar mild tang, smoother skin.
- Guindilla: the Basque pickled pepper, very similar.
- Pickled jalapeños if you want more heat.
- For the hot Italian peperoncino, use chilli flakes or small dried red chillies, not pepperoncini.
Pairs well with¶
Salami, ham, provolone, feta, olives, tomato, cucumber, red onion, oregano, garlic, olive oil, tuna, beef and bread.
Growing your own¶
Pepperoncini are easy, compact C. annuum plants, 60–75 cm tall, that crop heavily. Sow indoors in February–March at 20–25°C and plant out after frost into a sunny, sheltered spot or grow under cover. Pick pods yellow-green, at 5–8 cm, for pickling; frequent picking keeps the plants producing. Left on the plant, pods ripen red and become sweeter and a little warmer. Seed is sold as 'Greek Pepperoncini' or 'Golden Greek'. See growing chillies.