Maria (Gruosso) Mecca, Ruoti, Potenza
As a teenager, my mother (Caterina) used to make this recipe. In those days vegetables were preserved in clay pots with a mixture of water, vinegar and salt. When the wine season came around they took freshly squeezed juice, usually red, and boiled it until it reduced to a quarter of the original amount to make “vino cotto.”
(Yield: 4 servings)
4 preserved whole peppers
4 cups red wine (reduced to 1½ cups)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion (diced)
½ cup golden raisins
3 cups coarse breadcrumbs
1. Cook wine and sugar in saucepan over medium heat until reduced to ¼ of original amount. Set aside (vino cotto).
2.Warm half the oil in skillet over medium heat and sauté onions until translucent. Add raisins and reserved vino cotto, stirring well. Cook for 3 minutes.
3.Add breadcrumbs to skillet, stirring until everything is mixed but still moist. Remove from heat, allow to cool to room temperature and reserve.
4.With sharp knife, remove stem from tops of peppers and clean out seeds and membranes. Try keeping stem hole as small as possible.
5.Fill each pepper with cooled mixture, pressing lightly as you fill cavity.
6.In the same skillet, warm remaining oil over medium heat and cook stuffed peppers, turning often on all sides, (approx. 15 minutes in total).
Serve with crusty Italian bread.
If preserved whole peppers are not available, fresh bell peppers can be substituted. Varying the colour adds a nice presentation.