Novella's daughter Analisa spreading jam over slices of pecorino cheese.

I am so addicted to this jam!  I served it on pecorino cheese as an appetizer over the holidays–everyone loved it.  Its spiciness is reminiscent of jalapeno jelly, but this jam is much more interesting and complex.  My friend Novella, a shop owner and ceramic artist in Deruta, Umbria, served this pepper jam when I dined at her house.  She is just one of the cooks I met in Umbria when I was working on my book.

The jam is also delicious on Manchego, fresh mozarella, or ricotta cheese.  Novella also likes it on boiled beef.

Novella tasted this jam while traveling in the Italian region of Puglia–it is not a traditional Umbrian recipe.  She liked it so much she came home and developed her own recipe for it. Novella is a very good cook–there are a couple of her recipes in my book The Dog Who Ate The Truffle.

Although the jam on cheese makes a great holiday appetizer, summer is a good time to make the jam because red bell peppers are more economical.

Ingredients for making Spicy Pepper Jam.

Simmering bell and chile peppers in water.

Spicy Pepper Jam

Marmelata di peperoni

Print Spicy Pepper Jam Recipe

Yield: About 1-1/2 cups

3 large red bell peppers

15 small dried red chile peppers (see Note, below)

1-1/2 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

An immersion blender makes pureeing in the saucepan easy.

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons honey

1. Core, seed, and chop the bell peppers. Put the bell and chile peppers into a medium saucepan; add the 1-1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 12 minutes.

Small jars--less than 1/2 cup volume--are ideal.

2. Remove and discard the chile peppers; use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the bell peppers with the cooking liquid. Be careful when using an immersion blender–the mixture might splatter.

3. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Simmer over medium heat, stirring often and adjusting the heat to prevent a boil-over. Remove from the heat when the mixture is the consistency of a fairly thick jam and it has a slight sheen, 18 to 20 minutes.  Stir in the honey.

Check out the plates in the back--hand-painted by Novella.

4. Spoon the jam into canning/freezer jars. Seal; refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 4 months.

Note:  Look for the chile peppers in the spice section of the grocery store.  Sometimes they are available in bags in the international section near Mexican and Asian ingredients.

One Response to “Spicy Pepper Jam–Marmelata di peperoni”

1. Karen@Cook4Seasons says:

   January 11, 2010 at 13:39

   Your gorgeous photos do entice the palate…this looks fabulous!