![\"pep_o\"](\"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/pep_o.jpg\")
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If – as I have heard several times – you also think\u00a0that dried chillies can easily replace fresh ones,\u00a0you would\u00a0certainly change your mind after tasting\u00a0this amazing condiment. Apart from their obvious heat, fresh chillies are naturally sweet, vibrant and fruity. The combination of these qualities combined with garlic and olive oil create here\u00a0a unique taste and olfactory experience, bringing a\u00a0sunny touch\u00a0to any meal\u00a0or snack.<\/span>\u00a0For years I have been enjoying peperoncini sott’olio\u00a0in my favourite\u00a0pizzerias and had no idea it would be so easy to make at home (moreover with\u00a0a luscious\u00a0result).<\/p>\n Looking for a\u00a0reliable recipe for something I even didn’t know had a name, I\u00a0learnt\u00a0that peperoncini sott’olio (chillies in oil) are a Calabrian specialty (just like “olio santo”, the extremely popular chilli-infused oil) and that every home cook seems to have a different method… There are\u00a0two major types: chopped fresh chillies or bigger chilli chunks, both preserved in olive oil, sometimes also with garlic (some versions also call for herbs). As the name suggests and as you see at the photograph, chillies dominate the jar and are simply covered with oil, contrary to\u00a0chilli oil (the only exception is the thick Japanese chilli oil, Taberu Rayu<\/a>, which has a lot of sediments). I have chosen the chopped pepper version\u00a0since it was easier and\u00a0seemed more versatile. Garlic’s presence is not obligatory, but as a big fan, I \u00a0would never skip this option. This\u00a0recipe is a mixture of what I liked most and what I found easiest among\u00a0all the web sources I visited. If you understand Italian, I found useful tips and remarks\u00a0for example\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0and here<\/a>. I have read some other recipes probably too, but these are the only sources I remember…<\/span><\/p>\n I have never tried long-term preserving fresh\u00a0produce\u00a0in oil (much trickier and definitely dangerous than for example chilli oil made with dried peppers) and given different methods and ideas of oil preservation I found, for now I decided to\u00a0content myself with\u00a0a short-term fridge preserve I intend\u00a0to finish in maximum ten days. (Given the fact that in the several hours following the preparation I ate half of the jar content only with baguette slices, I don’t think my peperoncini sott’olio will keep that long, anyway…).<\/p>\n TIPS: If you wonder how to use this condiment, as I have mentioned, it’s fantastic on a pizza, but also on a slice of good bread, on pasta, on\u00a0toast, in a sandwich, on potatoes, grilled meat, fish… and I had it yesterday with a wild mushroom omelette… It was\u00a0extraordinary!<\/p>\n This is a short-term preserving method, which moreover uses fresh produce and has a very low acidity, so keep it in the fridge.<\/p>\n Vinegar is here not only to add some acidity, always good for preservation, but also to improve the taste. Before adding the vinegar I found this somewhat bland.<\/p>\n Preparation: about 30 – 40 minutes<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients (yields 1 x 200 ml jar (not full)):<\/em><\/p>\n 10 long fresh red chillies (mine were10-12 cm long\u00a0and were only slightly hot; I have no idea what the variety is called like; adapt the heat level to your preferences)<\/em><\/p>\n 1-2\u00a0garlic cloves<\/em><\/p>\n salt<\/em><\/p>\n 150 ml olive oil\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n 1\u00a0tablespoon wine vinegar (I have used red wine vinegar)<\/em><\/p>\n Wash the chilli peppers.<\/p>\n Discard the stems.<\/p>\n Chop roughly the peeled garlic clove.<\/p>\n Mix both in a food\u00a0processor (don’t make a pulp though, they should be just very finely chopped) or chop with a knife\u00a0(wearing gloves!).<\/p>\n Warm an empty frying\u00a0pan.<\/p>\n Heat the chopped chillies and garlic at very low temperature, constantly stirring, so that they dry a bit and release some of their juices (but don’t dry them too much; they shouldn’t change the colour).<\/p>\n After about 5 minutes pour\u00a0the oil into the\u00a0pan.<\/p>\n Fry the chillies\u00a0at very low temperature\u00a0for about 20 minutes.<\/p>\n Put aside and when it cools down, add the vinegar and salt to taste.<\/p>\n Put into a jar, close it and keep in the fridge for ten days\u00a0maximum.<\/p>\n Chillies can be eaten at once, but they improve with time, so try to wait\u00a024 hours before serving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If – as I have heard several times – you also think\u00a0that dried chillies can easily replace fresh ones,\u00a0you would\u00a0certainly change your mind after tasting\u00a0this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[220,37,13,50,18],"tags":[12],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16657"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16657"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16686,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16657\/revisions\/16686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}