Are Corno di Bue Peppers from the Marche region?

Question

Are Corno di Bue Peppers from the Marche region?

Answer 1

Yes, They are.

ROASTED PEPPER ROLLS STUFFED WITH TUNA--Peperoni farciti con tonno e acciuga

Makes about 15 small rolls, serving 6 as an hors d'oeuvre

Antipasti are, for me, the best part of a Piedmontese meal. At any family gathering (and in restaurants as well) the platters of different antipasti just never stop coming. And at some point in the procession, roasted peppers stuffed with tuna, will arrive at the table. The combination of sweet, meaty peppers and well-seasoned oil-cured tuna is always delightful.

In Piemonte, cooks are discriminating in the peppers they roast and most sought are those from Carmagnola, a town in the countryside south of Torino. Carmagnola peppers are justly famous, for wonderful flavor as well as their vivid colors and distinctive shapes, like the corno di bue (ox horn) and trottola (spinning top). Carmagnola also is well known for il coniglio grigio di Carmagnola--the gray rabbit from Carmagnola--considered to be one of the best in Italy.

Here in the States, any fresh, meaty sweet bell-type peppers are suitable-different colors make a nice presentation. And peppers are always best roasted and peeled at home, though a jar of roasted red peppers can be substituted if you are short on time. (If you have no peppers at all, this tuna filling is delicious on crostini or crackers--it makes a world-class tuna fish sandwich too.)



Ingredients

3 or 4 sweet red or assorted color peppers (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

1/3 cup or so extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt or to taste

Two 6-ounce cans tuna in olive oil (preferably imported from Italy)

2 small anchovy fillets, drained and chopped fine

2 tablespoons small capers, drained and chopped fine

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon prepared mustard

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Recommended Equipment

Parchment-lined baking sheet

Sieve to drain & dry out strips of peppers

Mixing bowl and fork for tuna and other ingredients

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350º. Rub the peppers all over with 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes or so, turning the peppers occasionally, until their skins are wrinkled and slightly charred.

Let the peppers cool completely. Slice in half (through the stem end), discard the stem, peel off the skin and slice the halves lengthwise into strips 2-inches wide. Scrape the seeds from the strips and lay them in a sieve to drain and dry.

To make the stuffing, drain the tuna, and break it into flakes in a medium-size bowl. One at a time, mix the seasonings into the tuna with a fork: chopped anchovies, capers, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, parsley, 2 tablespoons olive oil and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir vigorously, breaking up lumps of fish, until the stuffing is soft and fairly smooth. Add more of any seasoning to taste. Drop a scant tablespoon of stuffing at one end of each roast pepper strip and roll it up snug, creating a neat cylinder. Press the pepper as you wrap so it adheres to itself and stays closed.

To serve, arrange all the rolls on a platter, drizzle a bit more olive oil all over and sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.

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The Capsicum

Capsicum is a real Nature’s gift.

With its colours, its fleshy pulp, its tickling smell and taste, Capsicum, or Pepper as it is known in Italy represents an intense gastronomic experience.

It is the symbol of the luxuriant gardens extending on the floodplains of the Po and the Tanaro, rivers of Northern Italy. What would be Piedmontese region cuisine without this great vegetable?

According to traditional tales, first pepper variety to reach Europe was the chilli one, thanks to Cristoforo Colombo, who brought it from Isla Hispaniola in 1493. At first, as with tomatoes, capsicums were used as table floral ornament, on the occasion of banquets.



When finally someone picked up the courage to taste the fruit, he found it so pungent, like a gigantic peppercorn, a peperone.

Actually capsicum cultivation started in Europe around 1700, initially spreading in the temperate-hot regions of Southern Provence, where the vegetable was called “povron”.

In Piedmont cultivation developed right from the start in the areas of Carmagnola, Motta d’Asti, Cuneo and Tanaro valley.

Particularly, in the environs of Motta di Costigliole and Carmagnola, where local farmers applied selective breeding and natural methods to produce capsicum, peculiar varieties emerged.



Thanks to this scrupulous selection, peperone has maintained its distinctive flavour and features up to today.

This way we can still enjoy it, cooked according to traditional Piedmontese cuisine: stuffed or roasted, raw with bagna càuda, in peperonata or with tuna and anchovies sauce.

It is interesting to know that the pepper is characterized by valuable nutritional features: low in calories, it is reach in mineral salts and vitamins. Especially vitamin C, the capsicum provides greater quantities than even oranges, lemons and tomatoes. Furthermore capsicums, in particular the hot ones, are renowned for their protective function on digestive system, as well as for vascular-dilating properties contributing to blood circulation.



Capsicum cultivation and industrial usage

IIn Italy, sowing season of capsicum cultivated in the open air is winter. Harvest starts in July and goes on until the end of October, following seasonal trend. Fruits are picked at different maturity degrees depending on their future use: just ripened to be eaten raw and for industry, fully ripened for drying.

Main original cultivars are:

1. Quadrato d’Asti (Asti square capsicum): with thick wall, excellent eaten raw, stuffed or roasted.

2. Corno di bue (Ox-horn pepper): horn shaped, it is ideal for peperonata and various preparations. Thanks to its firm pulp, it is much appreciated by industry and restaurants.

3. Trottola (Top pepper): top shaped, blunt nosed or with curved point. Trottola pepper is a versatile variety, ideal for all preparations.

4. Tumaticot: rounded hybrid variety. Its compact shape and thick pulp make it suitable for antipasto dishes as well as for particular and premium preparations (for example: sweet-and-sour peppers).

  

The Capsicum

Capsicum is a real Nature’s gift.

With its colours, its fleshy pulp, its tickling smell and taste, Capsicum, or Pepper as it is known in Italy represents an intense gastronomic experience.

It is the symbol of the luxuriant gardens extending on the floodplains of the Po and the Tanaro, rivers of Northern Italy. What would be Piedmontese region cuisine without this great vegetable?

According to traditional tales, first pepper variety to reach Europe was the chilli one, thanks to Cristoforo Colombo, who brought it from Isla Hispaniola in 1493. At first, as with tomatoes, capsicums were used as table floral ornament, on the occasion of banquets.



When finally someone picked up the courage to taste the fruit, he found it so pungent, like a gigantic peppercorn, a peperone.

Actually capsicum cultivation started in Europe around 1700, initially spreading in the temperate-hot regions of Southern Provence, where the vegetable was called “povron”.

In Piedmont cultivation developed right from the start in the areas of Carmagnola, Motta d’Asti, Cuneo and Tanaro valley.

Particularly, in the environs of Motta di Costigliole and Carmagnola, where local farmers applied selective breeding and natural methods to produce capsicum, peculiar varieties emerged.



Thanks to this scrupulous selection, peperone has maintained its distinctive flavour and features up to today.

This way we can still enjoy it, cooked according to traditional Piedmontese cuisine: stuffed or roasted, raw with bagna càuda, in peperonata or with tuna and anchovies sauce.

It is interesting to know that the pepper is characterized by valuable nutritional features: low in calories, it is reach in mineral salts and vitamins. Especially vitamin C, the capsicum provides greater quantities than even oranges, lemons and tomatoes. Furthermore capsicums, in particular the hot ones, are renowned for their protective function on digestive system, as well as for vascular-dilating properties contributing to blood circulation.



Capsicum cultivation and industrial usage

IIn Italy, sowing season of capsicum cultivated in the open air is winter. Harvest starts in July and goes on until the end of October, following seasonal trend. Fruits are picked at different maturity degrees depending on their future use: just ripened to be eaten raw and for industry, fully ripened for drying.

Main original cultivars are:

1. Quadrato d’Asti (Asti square capsicum): with thick wall, excellent eaten raw, stuffed or roasted.

2. Corno di bue (Ox-horn pepper): horn shaped, it is ideal for peperonata and various preparations. Thanks to its firm pulp, it is much appreciated by industry and restaurants.

3. Trottola (Top pepper): top shaped, blunt nosed or with curved point. Trottola pepper is a versatile variety, ideal for all preparations.

4. Tumaticot: rounded hybrid variety. Its compact shape and thick pulp make it suitable for antipasto dishes as well as for particular and premium preparations (for example: sweet-and-sour peppers).



For its preparations of Antipasti and Pasta sauces, Saclà uses capsicum varieties deriving from quadrato d’Asti and ox-horn cultivars. Originally Saclà’s suppliers were located in Tanaro valley, near the firm premises. During  the ‘70s the majority of vegetable cultivation moved to Southern Italy to satisfy industry needs, while local farmings still produce sufficient volumes for table consumption.

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