It wasn’t until age 32 that I ate my first stuffed bell pepper. I even made it myself.
Neither of our parents made stuffed peppers. In fact, my mom hated peppers. Stuffed peppers became like eggplants in my mind. I added them to the list of foods I watched TV chefs prepare in utter fascination and hoped to try someday when I was older.
On a recent trip to the library I rented Nonna’s House which compiles recipes from the Italian grandmothers who work at Enoteca Maria, a restaurant in Staten Island. At Enoteca Maria, Italian grandmothers take turns leading the kitchen and sharing their family recipes. One evening I prepared my first batch of stuffed peppers following Margherita Amato’s recipe. They baked up beautifully and tasted even better. We enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
