Peperoni Cruschi Fritti

Name: Peperoni Cruschi Fritti
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Lucana
Ingredients: 60 g dried senise sweet peppers; 150 ml Extra virgin olive oil; 1 clove Garlic; 1 piece fresh bay leaf; 0.5 tsp Fine sea salt; 0.5 tsp flaky sea salt

Crispy fried sweet peppers made from dried Senise chillies flash-cooked in olive oil until brittle and glassy.

🇮🇹Italy· Basilicata

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 5 min
Total: 15 min
Servings: 4
Difficulty: Medium
Calories: 165 kcal

Ingredients

0 of 6 gathered

Servings

60 g dried senise sweet peppers — peperoni di Senise IGP secchi, whole and unbroken
150 ml Extra virgin olive oil — for shallow frying
1 clove Garlic — unpeeled and lightly crushed
1 piece fresh bay leaf — whole
½ tsp Fine sea salt — to taste
½ tsp flaky sea salt — for finishing

Equipment

•Wide frying pan
•Slotted spoon or spider
•Paper towels
•Kitchen scissors
•Clean tea towel

Nutrition

Per serving, approximate

Calories: 165 kcal
fat: 14 g
carbs: 9 g
fibre: 3 g
protein: 2 g
calories: 165 kcal

Instructions

1
Wipe each dried pepper gently with a clean dry tea towel to remove any surface dust.
2
Snip off the tough stems with kitchen scissors and shake out all internal seeds.
3
Cut or tear the peppers into large bite-sized pieces.
4
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium heat.
5
Add the crushed garlic clove and bay leaf to infuse the oil with gentle flavour.
6
Remove the garlic and bay leaf once the garlic turns pale golden.
7
Drop a small handful of peppers into the hot oil for three to five seconds.
8
Turn the pieces immediately with a slotted spoon as they puff and turn bright glassy red.
9
Lift the peppers out swiftly onto paper towels before the skin darkens or scorches.
10
Repeat with the remaining pepper pieces in small batches without overcrowding the pan.
11
Sprinkle immediately with fine sea salt while still warm from the oil.
12
Allow the peppers to cool completely for five minutes until they become shatteringly crisp.

Chef's tips

The peppers do not crisp up in the pan; they harden only as they cool on paper towels. Keep the oil around 160 degrees C and never let it smoke. If a pepper turns dark brown or black, discard it, as it will taste intensely bitter.

Ingredient substitutions

peperoni di Senise IGP → mild dried Spanish choricero peppers, though their skin is slightly thicker

Storage

Keep completely cooled peppers in an airtight glass jar at room temperature for up to three days.

Reheating

Do not reheat, as additional warmth softens the delicate crisp texture.

Common mistakes to avoid

•Leaving the peppers in the hot oil for more than five seconds, which burns the natural sugars.
•Washing the dried peppers with water before frying, which causes dangerous oil splatter and prevents crisping.
•Eating the peppers straight from the pan before they have cooled down and turned crisp.

Serving suggestions

Serve at room temperature as a crunchy antipasto alongside aged pecorino cheese.Crumble over handmade strascinati pasta tossed with toasted breadcrumbs.Pair with pan-fried salted cod for the iconic Lucanian dish baccala a ciauredda.