Recipe: Jimmy Nardello Time!

We are in peak summer! Well, at least if you consider which fruits and vegetables are in season right now. At the market this week, I saw dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes, pints of Sungold tomatoes, stone fruit of all kinds (Santa Rosa plums, O’Henry peaches, even some late Robada apricots), basil bunches as big as wedding bouquets, and one of my all-time favorite summer vegetables, Jimmy Nardello peppers.

Here’s the recipe I use to cook Jimmy Nardello peppers, just in case you need a reminder of the simplest (and imo best) way: 

You’ll need a heavy pan. Cast iron is best, because you want to get it really hot. Once it’s smoking, add a generous glug of olive oil and the peppers (stems cut off). Cook them, stirring only once or twice, until they collapse in on themselves and become tender. Let them get charred in a few places. Transfer the peppers to a plate, splash with fancy sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, and season generously with salt. That’s it! So easy, so good.