Vegetable
Pepper
PimientoPebrotCapsicum annuum
Green and red are usually the same pepper at two stages: the red one was left to ripen on the plant. That's why it's sweeter and dearer.
When
Around: Jul–Oct · At its best: Aug–Sept
Around: Jul–Oct · At its best: Aug–Sept
Around: Jan–Apr · At its best: Feb–Mar
Around here
In Catalonia red peppers go into escalivada and samfaina, and fried green ones go with half of home cooking. The nyora, a small round pepper dried in the sun, is essential to Tarragona's romesco. Nearby, Navarre has the Pimiento del Piquillo de Lodosa PDO.
At the market
- Glossy, taut skin with no wrinkles.
- It should feel heavy: thick, juicy flesh.
- A green, firm stalk, not dry or dark.
- No soft patches, sunken spots or bruises.
At home
- In the fridge's veg drawer, unwashed.
- Green ones last a good week; red ones, a bit less.
- Roasted and peeled, in a tub with their juices and oil, three or four days in the fridge.
If you have too much
- Roasted and peeled, frozen in strips with their juices: about six months.
- Raw ones freeze without blanching too, in strips or dice, for sofregit.
- Bottle roasted peppers in sterilised jars processed in a water bath.
- If you have nyores or thin peppers, thread them on string and dry them somewhere dry and airy.
In the kitchen
- Escalivada, with aubergine and onion.
- Fried green peppers with coarse salt, with eggs or meat.
- Stuffed with mince, rice or salt cod.
- Samfaina or pisto.
- Roasted and dressed with garlic, oil and a dash of vinegar.
- Roast pepper salmorejo, or raw strips in a pipirrana.
What it brings
Per 100 g, raw.
- Energy
- 26 kcal
- Water
- 92% water
- Carbs
- 6 g
- Sugars
- 4.2 g
- Fibre
- 2.1 g
- Protein
- 1 g
Stands out for
- High in vitamin C127.7 mg · 160% of what you need in a day
- Source of folate46 µg · 23% of what you need in a day
- Source of vitamin B60.3 mg · 21% of what you need in a day
- Source of vitamin A157 µg · 20% of what you need in a day
Data from the USDA (FoodData Central). See the full table ↗ · How we decide what stands out
In the family recipes
- Salmorejo de pimientos asados Grandma's
- Pipirrana Grandma's
The recipes are in Spanish.
Goes with
- AubergineJun–OctIt's a sponge: it soaks up all the oil you give it. Charred whole over a flame it becomes something else, creamy and smoky, without a drop extra.
- TomatoJun–OctAn August tomato and a January one only share the colour. And a good tomato's worst enemy isn't winter: it's your fridge.
- CucumberJun–SeptBotanically it's a fruit, like its cousin the melon. What it tells you most is about cold: it likes being cool, but in a very cold fridge it goes soft and pitted.