I have a friend from Calabria (the toe of the boot of Italy) and I have heard about his Aunt Agata’s Peperonata for years. My friend has fond memories of staying at the beach swimming all morning and then sneaking into Agata’s kitchen and eating bread topped with peperonata before lunch. Everyone has some food that takes special place in the memories of childhood. It’s easy to see why this dish is remembered so fondly; its great comfort food.
The vegetables are fried (in extra virgin olive oil which makes you forget the frying part). You wouldn’t expect a bunch of vegetables to be so tasty, but it’s hard to not eat all of this at once. This can be served on top of bread, or on its own as an appetizer or side dish. Because it is hardy, I expect it would be paired well with meat. Serve at room temperature, and store in the fridge. It won’t last long, but it should keep for about a week.
Peperonata
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into fourths and sliced
2 medium eggplant, chopped in about ½ inch pieces
3 red peppers, sliced into 2-3 inch long slices
1 peperoncino (small hot pepper)chopped
3 large tomatoes chopped
3-4 fresh basil leaves
In a large saucepan put a good amount of olive oil. You are not deep frying, but you want about ½ an inch of oil. Heat on medium high heat, you know the oil is hot when very small bubbles will occasionally rise to the surface. Fry the potatoes. You may have to do this in batches of 2 or 3, because you don’t want to overcrowd the pan. I use a slotted steel spoon with a long handle to avoid hot oil splashes. Stir once in a while so that the potatoes cook on both sides. To check that they are done, fish out one slice, let it cool a bit and taste. They should no longer be starchy or mealy inside. Once they are done, remove with a slotted spoon, and put on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Once all the potatoes are done, add the eggplant to the same oil. Fry the eggplant and then the peppers in the same manner as the potatoes. With the peppers, add the peperoncino, add only a small amount if you don’t like things too much heat. Once you have fried the potatoes, eggplant, and peppers, pour the hot oil into a mug and lower the heat. You don’t need to wash the pan, just cook the tomatoes for a couple of minutes to soften. Add all the vegetables to the tomatoes and stir to mix the flavors. Let cook on low heat until any excess water from the tomatoes has cooked off, and the vegetables have melded. Add salt and basil to taste.
