Sweet Pepper 'Nardello'

Hi all members I am new to this site and very happy to have found it! I am from the small town of Naugatuck Connecticut where the pepper...Read More Jimmy Nardello acutally comes from ! Being a small town I actually knew Jimmy Nardello who the pepper is named for. My grandparents on my Dads side acutally grew these peppers from seed that came from the town in Italy where they were brought from. Jimmy Nardello's name was actually changed when they came from Italy by some error and his Sur name was really Nardiello the same spelling as my Grandmothers who I surmise was some how related back a few generations ago being from the same small town of Ruoti Potenzza in the region of Bassilicata Italy. Until my dad passed on he and I used to have the peppers grown from a farm in Cheshire CT. He gave the farmer some seed and he would grow them for us and others and then my dad would buy the peppers in bushel baskets from him. We actually would string the peppers and dry them for the fall and winter seasons and holidays. After the peppers are dry they would shrivel and get very hard and brittle. But we would take a good quality of olive oil and heat it up in a cast iron frying pan and then toss some of the peppers in the hot oil and watch them swell up and get nice and smooth . This happens very quickly so its in the oil for just a few seconds. Then take the peppers and place on paper towels to soak up the extra oil. Next they are then given a little shake of salt and there ready to eat! The consistency is like a biting into a potato chip nice and crispy crunch. A sweet flavor with a bit of salt makes them delicious. My Grandmother used to serve them with Salted Cod aka Bakala for Christmas Eve. I havent been able to find them locally anymore so I have now purchased the seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and am hoping to get them started and will have at least some for the fall.
To dry them you need a good strong cotton string a large sewing needle that has an eye at the end and patience to string them . To dry them successfully you need a nice warm dry area to place them that has some air movement. I will use my garage rafters with the windows open for cross ventilation. or you can use a dehydrator if your in a hurry for some. They grow green and turn red when ripe thats when to pick them and string them ASAP . If you haven't tried them there different from other long peppers thin skinned and very delicious and fried fresh or dried and fried either way there a treat I cant wait to experience again after a long time without.
:)

Available from Seeds of Change which describes it as follows: "Delightful fresh or fried, the sweetes non-bell pepper when ripe. An Itali...Read Morean heirloom from the Nadello family. Red when ripe, these 6-8 in. peppers have shiny, wrinkled skins. Almost like candy." ( 65 day green, 75 day red)