Here’s a shot from our trip to Venice last weekend. It sounds so cliche, but it’s a magical place. Everyone in my family is happy when we’re there and believe me, that doesn’t happen very often. We don’t even care that we usually end up paying way too much for a mediocre meal while we’re there, because we’re in a magical land with canals instead of streets. Italians always tell us that there are good restaurants in Venice, ones that aren’t way too expensive, but they always seem to tell us about them after we’ve come back. I think it’s a conspiracy to keep these good and well-priced restaurants a secret, but as soon as I find one, I’ll let you know.
On the home food front, I’ve been cooking up a lot of red and yellow peppers lately. I can’t seem to get enough of them and my family seems to agree. They are easy to prepare, match well with a variety of meats and fish and are packed full of vitamin C. And don’t forget that they’re really pretty too. Here in Italy, they are widely available and affordable, but I know that’s not always the case in the US. I guess it really depends where you live in the US. My lucky relatives in California probably have no problem finding them year round, but for those of you that can’t, there are some pretty good roasted, canned peppers that you can use in a pinch.
Roasting peppers is an easy way to prepare them ahead of time and after they are roasted you can do a bunch of things with them. Our favorite way to prepare roasted red peppers is as follows.
Roast 2 red or yellow peppers and peel the skin off and deseed.
Chop the peppers into 1/2 inch slices and saute with a whole garlic clove and 2-3 tbs olive oil.
After the peppers are heated through, add 1/3 cup of black olives and 1/4 of plain bread crumbs. Saute until heated thoroughly, salt and pepper to taste.
Easy, huh?
Another super easy way to prepare peppers is to simply saute them with onions. I usually use a 2 pepper to one onion ratio. You could play with this depending on how much you love or don’t like onions. The recipe goes like this:
2 red peppers, chopped thinly long ways
1 onion sliced into 1/2 moons
2-3 tbs olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking, add the peppers and onions. Saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it cooks evenly. When the peppers and onions are nice and soft, its done.
This is great served with sausages or to make a fritatta with the left overs. It’s also really good to make sandwiches with. Oh, I’m getting hungry! Bon Apetito!
italiansimplicity 
Hi Anne,
Even though I am not a huge fan of peppers, your picture actually makes me want to try cooking them with some onions. I’m still enjoying your blog, it gives me something to look forward to midday at work. Take care.
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Ciao Anne, I’m “testa dura” on Expats, and I just found your blog. I actually did a recipe last week on my blog–potatoes, red and green peppers, and onions. Yum! Excuse me, I have to catch up on your older posts now 🙂
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Hi Sognatrice! I’m glad the dish turned out well for you. It’s so easy, but so yummy. Happy New Year!
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