You Should Definitely Make These Creamed Peppers

When it comes to creamed vegetables, spinach and corn get most of the glory. Unless you’re something of a steak dinner obsessive, you probably don’t think about creamed veggies all that much, and you certainly aren’t thinking of other, additional vegetables to cream. That’s alright though, because the smart brains at Serious Eats are thinking about those things, which is how creamed shishito peppers made their way onto my radar.

The recipe is simple but effective. Sweat some shishitos with shallots and garlic until everything is nice and tender, then add cream and let it simmer until it becomes a thick sauce. Add some cheese. Eat.

This recipe got me thinking: Why not cream other peppers? Shishitos are delightful, but they’re not ubiquitous. Could I cream a humble mini sweet pepper? (Yes.) And would it be good? (Also yes.)

Mini sweet peppers are exactly what they sound like. They’re small and sweet, and come in the classic pepper colours (red, yellow, and orange). There’s something very cheerful about them — they taste sunny. This makes them great candidates for a creaming, as their punchy flavour holds up well under a thick sauce of heavy cream and cheese.

The way you slice the peppers will affect their texture in the finished dish. Seed them, then cut them into little half-circles. Slice them super thinly if you want them to melt into the sauce. If you want a more toothsome pepper that retains some of its juicy snap, aim for half-circles that are around half an inch thick.

Easy Creamed Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon bacon grease, or your other favourite cooking oil
• 225g mini sweet peppers, seeded and sliced to your preference
• 1 small onion, sliced into half-circles
• Salt and pepper (I used ground white pepper for cooking and a freshly ground medley for finishing.)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Pecorino-Romano, at least an ounce, plus more for finishing

Heat your fat of choice in a large stainless steel skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Add the peppers and onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is translucent and the peppers are soft, but neither are browned, about 2o minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes, until fragrant.

Add the cream and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly to keep the cream from scorching. Continue to cook and stir until the cream reduces into a thick sauce. Add an ounce of Pecorino-Romano and stir to melt. Transfer to a serving bowl and finish with a small handful of more cheese and freshly ground pepper.