One of our local grocery stores has a lovely selection of marinated olives and vegetables, and I’ve fallen hard and fast for the stuffed cherry peppers. Really, how can you go wrong? A spicy little pepper stuffed with cured meat and sharp Italian cheese? Bring it! I could make a meal on those alone, except for the fact that we usually have 8 other nibbly bits and I have to taste everything at least once. Or twice. Or three times.
It probably never would have occurred to me to make them myself, if I hadn’t accidentally bought hot cherry peppers at our farmer’s market. I say accidentally, which makes me sound like way more of a space cadet than I really am. I bought the little round peppers because they were adorable and I love getting new things at the farmer’s market. But they weren’t marked as hot peppers and in their fresh version, I didn’t connect them with the preserved, marinated version that I buy at the grocery store. I was chopping them up for dinner when I happened to lick my finger and WOW. Okay, that is spicy stuff. My kids are so not going to eat those in their salad!
So, I happened to have a bag of hot cherry peppers. What to do, what to do? Kind of a no-brainer, right? A search on Google elicited a few good recipes, and I took the best of them to make my own version. And they rocked. They take a couple of weeks to marinate properly, but once they were ready, we celebrated by having an antipasto meal. Mmmmmm.
Marinated Stuffed Cherry Peppers
Ingredients
- 12 to 14 medium cherry peppers
- 2 to 3 cups white vinegar
- 6 or 7 slices proscuitto
- 4 oz provolone, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- two sprigs rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 quart olive oil, preferably extra virgin
Instructions
- Cut the tops off the cherry peppers and remove seeds.
- Place hollowed-out peppers in a quart jar and add enough vinegar to cover completely. Put lid on jar and set on your counter for at least one week.
- After one week, drain peppers.
- Cut prosciutto slices in half and wrap each piece around a piece of cheese. Stuff each cherry pepper with prosciutto-wrapped cheese.
- Place stuffed peppers back in jar, add garlic, rosemary and bay leaf. Pour enough olive oil into jar to cover cherry peppers completely.
- Put lid on jar and place back on counter for at least a week. Enjoy!
- And don't throw that oil away, it makes a great, lightly seasoned oil for cooking.
Notes
Nutrition
Free Bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
Sign up for your favorite recipes delivered straight to your inbox plus get our FREE bonus: Secrets to Keto Baking!
I have frozen them once they’ve gone thru vinegar and been drained and stuffed and covered in spices and oil..put in small freezer containers.. preserve perfectly.
Can I put into a hot water bath say30 minutes and then preserve them like I do my pickles? I’d really like to keep them much longer..on the shelf.Tim
I really don’t know but it’s worth a try.
My brothers been making these for years. He says that water bath will make everything mushy. Not recommended
I am about half way there… first week in vinegar complete, now submerged in good olive oil.
I have read many recipes for stuffed peppers like this but I like yours the best as it is one of the few that marinate the peppers in vinegar for a week first.
I just want to clear up the confusion and please let me know if I am right on this…
A week in vinegar, a week in oil (both weeks on the counter at room temp.) and then once thats done its moving to the fridge and can last several weeks.
Yes.
does anyone know if their is a way to preserve these? like to put up for the winter?
Just tried this recipe and live the rosemary in oil! The recipe says place on counter for at least a week, but comments say put in fridge for up to a week? Fridge or no fridge? I have them in my closet, ate one yesterday (day 7) and it tasted fine.
Store in fridge after the counter. 🙂
do you leave the vinegar in the jar and add the oil to it, or drain the vinegar and then they only soak in the oil and spices?
Everything stays in there.
I just stuffed some Cherry Peppers with Cheese & Salami.? Put them in a Mason Jar,? With Oil & Salt & Garlic.? I did not put in any Vinegar in it.? & just put them in the Fridge.? I was wondering if they will spoil.? And should I just add some Vinegar to the jar.? To keep them from spoiling.? And how long do you think that they will stay safe in the Fridge.?
They will be fine for a week or so.
So do these not need to go into the fridge? Just finished making them and wasn’t sure cause of the cheese
Yes, after marinating they should to in the fridge.
How long can you store these and should they be refrigerated after a week?
Yes, refrigerate them and they should last several weeks.
Do the stuffed peppers go back in the vinegar and get covered with oil or is the vinegar discarded?
Vinegar is discarded.
Fast-forward to 4/2016: I just stumbled upon a jar of these at Sam’s Club, and they taste so good, I wanted to learn how to make them. Question: why not save both the vinegar and the olive oil (from an empty jar), combine them, and have a delightful salad dressing?
I do a little something I call “lunch tapas” all the time. Except it usually involves olives & a handful of potato chips. But anyway! It would never occur to me to try to make these at home–I love this idea! And they are so pretty, too.
Oh my goodness these look amazing! My cousin and I have a joke that we are addicted to “foods inside of foods”! There is something about one treat tucked inside of another that just always gets me, this is exactly the kind that I love, too! YUM!
We eat the same way — last week we had varying combos of tapas the whole week (thanks to a great tapas cookbook from a friend).
Oh man, we think alike! Antipasto meals are a once a week deal in my house. I just lay it all out on a giant bread board and everyone digs in..I even have the kids eating Gorgonzola and pate 🙂
Friday night is appetizer night in our house; I love appetizers and these look so delicious. I have bought this type of appetizer before, but never thought to make them myself. Can’t wait to try these one Friday night soon!
Oh wow, I would be popping those like crazy! Bad news bears!
Oh, this is a great idea! I almost got some hot cherry peppers at our farmer’s market last weekend but I wasn’t sure if I knew what I wanted to do with them. . .now I know!
I see a dinner party in my future that might need these on the table. 🙂
Love that picture of your stuffed cherry peppers in the jar!
wow what a great idea! Have a great weekend!!
How long will these keep? On counter? Refrigerated?
Refrigerated for several weeks is best.