Long and skinny with glossy, blaze-red skin, the Jimmy Nardello looks like the type of pepper that would hang with habaneros on the spice scale. But this Italian heirloom is actually one of the easiest-eating, easiest-cooking peppers at the farmers’ market. “It’s sweet and fruity, similar to a shishito but slightly less herbal and earthy tasting,” says Michael Zentner, owner of the Drifter catering company and Merci restaurant, slated to open in late summer in Charleston, South Carolina.
Zentner discovered the pepper while cooking in Boston (the Nardello family brought the seeds to New England from Italy in the late 1800s) and now buys it locally from growers around Charleston. In late summer, the ripe peppers range from five to ten inches long, and they have thin walls, making them ideal for caramelizing on the grill or flattop, which gets them nice and creamy. “Peppers are one of my favorite vegetables for sure,” Zentner says, “and the Jimmy Nardello peppers are especially cool because they’re small enough that you can leave them whole, which I always like to try to do with these special ingredients from a farmers’ market—you want to see what these things are.”
At home, the peppers will keep for a couple of weeks in the crisper drawer. They’re wonderful stuffed with cheese and then baked or fried, and if you have a bunch to use up, they can be dried and ground to make a sweet, Hungarian-style chile powder. Zentner especially likes to use them in pepper sauces—including this peperonata with shallots and garlic (see recipe) for spooning over pork tenderloin, fish, or most any meat in your grilling rotation. “It’s also really nice on polenta, or even on top of pizza,” he says. “It’s just a really cool summer condiment.”
