Basilicata
Air-dried sweet Senise peppers (Peperone di Senise IGP) fried briefly in hot olive oil until they crisp instantly into delicate, papery crackers with a concentrated sweet-pepper flavour. Served alongside fresh ricotta di bufala or sheep's ricotta as a textural and flavour contrast. The peperoni cruschi are one of the most singular ingredients in Italian cuisine — their flavour is intensely sweet, slightly smoky and unlike any other pepper preparation.
Intensely sweet, slightly smoky and papery-crisp; salt amplifies the concentrated pepper sweetness; ricotta provides a cool, milky contrast — one of Italy's most unique regional ingredients
{"The peppers must be fully air-dried for minimum 2 months — partially dried peppers don't crisp and turn bitter in the oil","Fry in abundant olive oil at 170°C for only 10–15 seconds per pepper — they go from perfect to burnt in seconds","Remove immediately with a spider and lay flat on kitchen paper — they continue to crisp as they cool","Season with sea salt only after frying — salt before frying draws out residual moisture and causes uneven crisping","Serve within 15 minutes — the crisp texture is lost rapidly in humidity or if stacked"}
{"The oil left after frying peperoni cruschi is deeply flavoured with sweet pepper — use it immediately to fry eggs or dress pasta (the traditional preparation)","A pinch of peperoncino in the serving ricotta gives a heat contrast to the sweet, fragile pepper","Peperoni cruschi crumbled over pasta dressed with their frying oil and breadcrumbs is one of Basilicata's greatest pasta preparations"}
{"Under-dried peppers — they steam rather than crisp and turn soft and bitter","Frying at too low a temperature — the peppers absorb oil instead of crisping","Over-frying — they go dark brown and become bitter within 5 seconds past perfect"}
Peperone di Senise IGP — Disciplinare e Ricette Tradizionali