Cooky Cat

Stuffed Peppers a la Vito Vulpi

We met Mr. Vito Vulpi over Espresso and Italian iIces at a local Italian neighborhood street fair in the fall of 2010 in East Orange, New Jersey. He was generous to give us his best recipe for these stuffed peppers.

After you fix up some stuffed peppers for yourself, there's some story about that meeting following the recipe. 

Peppers seeded...choose Red, Yellow, or Green Peppers

Stuff with mixture of:

     Rice...half cooked

     Pepperoni...chopped into fine pieces

     Mozzarella...small pieces

     Pecorino Romano...grated

     Capers

     Oregano

     Salt

     Pepper

Top with fresh seasoned bread crumbs

Bake at 350 F for 45 - 60 minutes

And ... you better follow the recipe! Kapische!

We met Mr. Volpi during an Italian neighborhood street fair when we went into a corner shop for an Italian Ice. Lemon ... is there any other? 

A large well lit open space with a high ceiling. Windows on either side of it spot on the street corner. Tables scattered around.

Old men playing cards in the front, near the widows. Italian Ices and Espresso and maybe some sweets at a bar in the center against the wall. Through the back wall and a conventional size doorway, young men — "stallions" — hanging out and playing pool. Besides the retail selling, the place was a club. 

Brings to mind a setting where the old guard has retired, and the new blood is ready for action. A little peace, a little danger. Kapische?

On a very tangentially related topic ...

Who was it who said, "It's not Pizza if there's no mob around?".