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Peperonata: My Favorite Dish of the Summer

Aug 18, 2025

If I could only pick one dish to make every summer, it would be peperonata. It’s a simple mix of peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs that transforms into something greater than the sum of its parts. Sweet, a little spicy, a little tart — it’s one of those dishes that tastes like sunshine in a pot.

Other than the work of chopping the peppers, it’s easy to make and endlessly versatile. I stir it into pasta sauce, slather it on a crusty piece of sourdough, spoon it over eggs… honestly, there’s nothing I wouldn’t eat this with. And the best part? It makes a generous batch, so you can enjoy it all week (if it lasts that long).

Peperonata is the dish that captures summer for me. Peppers are abundant, tomatoes are at their juiciest, and with just a few pantry staples — olive oil, vinegar, and fresh herbs — you have something that can dress up breakfast, transform seafood, or add instant comfort to a bowl of creamy polenta.

It’s rustic Italian cooking at its best: unfussy, flavorful, and designed to be shared.

Makes about 4 cups

2 pounds peppers, mostly sweet but a few hot are nice too (use a mix of colors and varieties if possible)
¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound (450 g) tomatoes (about half regular tomatoes, cut into chunks, and half cherry tomatoes)
1 ½ teaspoons sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
3 sprigs fresh thyme or oregano, or a mix

Instructions

Core and seed all the peppers. Cut them into slices — some thick and some thin — for the best texture. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook slowly until very soft, fragrant, and golden brown (but not burned), about 5 minutes.
Add the peppers, onion, chile flakes, and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the peppers start to soften, about 5 minutes.
Add half the tomatoes (use the larger cut-up tomatoes here). Cook and stir until the peppers and tomatoes are very soft, about 30 minutes. The mixture should become thick and saucy, with juices starting to stick to the bottom of the pot. Stir often so the caramelized juices don’t burn, but instead fold back into the peperonata.
After about 30 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes, vinegar, and thyme. Cook until the cherry tomatoes burst and their juices thicken, another 10–15 minutes.
Taste and adjust with salt, black pepper, vinegar, or more chile flakes. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature.

How to Use Peperonata

This is the kind of recipe that keeps on giving. A few of my favorite ways to enjoy it:

Dress up breakfast: Spoon over eggs or a simple cheese omelet.
Create instant comfort: Top a bowl of creamy polenta.
Add a savory topping: Serve with roasted meats or spoon over pot roast.
Transform simple seafood: Spoon over a fillet of cod or halibut and bake.
The simplest way: Pile high on a piece of crusty sourdough and go to town.

Summer cooking is about celebrating abundance — and peperonata is the dish I return to again and again. It’s vibrant, deeply flavored, and endlessly versatile. Once you make it, you’ll want to keep a jar in the fridge all season long.

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