- Recipes By Ingredients
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- Shish*to Pepper
Perfect as a stand-alone side dish, a pizza topping, a taco filling, and so much more.
By
Sasha Marx
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__2018__10__Sasha-Marx-1-20164df56a2f4a24b350b527f295ad5c.jpg "Creamy, Dreamy Shish*tos: The Side of the Summer (1)")
Sasha Marx
Senior Culinary Editor
Sasha is a senior culinary editor at Serious Eats. He has over a decade of professional cooking experience, having worked his way up through a number of highly regarded and award-winning restaurant kitchens, followed by years spent in test kitchens for food publications.
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Updated May 26, 2023
Why It Works
- Sweating the shish*tos, shallots, and garlic together before adding the cream softens the vegetables without turning them to mush.
- As the cream cooks down it thickens the mixture to the perfect saucy consistency while picking up subtle spiciness from the shish*tos.
- Grated parmesan and nutmeg lend savory nutty notes to the dish.
There's no looking a gift horse in the mouth when summer produce is at its peak. If you hear someone complaining that they can't bear the thought of looking at another zucchini or charring another shish*to, it's your duty to tell them to stop, take a beat, and think about the long winter of beets and parsnips that will be here soon enough. Then let them know that they don't have to blister every shish*to they bring home from the market. How about turning them into a dreamy batch of creamed shish*tos instead?
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__2020__07__20200731-creamed-shish*to-peppers-sasha-marx-10c9c413806e49f2ae485dec0514eac3.jpg "Creamy, Dreamy Shish*tos: The Side of the Summer (2)")
These creamed shish*tos are the perfect antidote to standard produce-procedure fatigue. Shish*tos, shallots, and garlic cooked down with heavy cream to a saucy consistency, with the cream picking up just the right amount of subtle heat from the peppers. Finished with a handful of grated parmesan and a pinch of nutmeg, this is a steak side dish for the summer...or a pizza topping or a taco filling or the building block of a great pasta sauce.
It's also an example of the game of culinary telephone that most chefs and cooks play, riffing off recipes and ideas from colleagues and peers. I first had a version of this preparation on a Neapolitan-style pizza with potatoes, fior di latte, and smoky speck at the now-closed restaurant Tapestry in Boston. The other week I was making pizzas at home and reached out to Kevin Walsh, the former co-executive chef of Tapestry, to get the recipe for those shish*tos.
He got back to me saying he couldn't remember the exact quantities and didn't have his old notebook handy, but he gave me the basic rundown. Along with this CliffsNotes recipe, he told me that this version was an adaptation of a dish from Chef Alex Stupak, who had cooked a rajas-inspired dish of shish*tos with crema at an event they had worked together. A riff on a riff of a classic, and a really tasty one at that. I've made this recipe at least once a week since then, and probably won't be charring a shish*to until next summer.
August 2020
Recipe Details
Creamed Shish*to Peppers Recipe
Serves3to 4 servings
Ingredients
1 tablespoon (15ml) extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces (225 to 285g) shish*to peppers, stemmed and thinly sliced into rounds (yielding about 3 cups; 200g sliced peppers)
2 medium shallots (80g), thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves (10g), thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
1 ounce (30g) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Pinch freshly ground or grated nutmeg
Directions
In a 10-inch skillet or 3-quart saucier, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add shish*tos, shallots, and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula, until vegetables are softened but not browned and shish*tos are still bright green, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add heavy cream, season lightly with salt, and bring to a rapid simmer. Continue to cook, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain a rapid simmer, stirring frequently to keep vegetables from sticking and cream from scorching on the sides of the pan, until cream is reduced to a saucy consistency, 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove from heat, add grated cheese and nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve right away, or cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for future use.
Special Equipment
10-inch skillet or 3-quart saucier
Make-Ahead and Storage
Creamed shish*tos can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to five days. Gently reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding a little cream as needed to achieve the proper consistency.
- Shish*to Pepper
- Stovetop Vegetables
- Heavy Cream
- Vegetable Sides
- Easter Side Dishes
| Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 298 | Calories |
| 27g | Fat |
| 10g | Carbs |
| 5g | Protein |
Show Full Nutrition Label
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| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 3to 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 298 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 27g | 35% |
| Saturated Fat 15g | 77% |
| Cholesterol 74mg | 25% |
| Sodium 263mg | 11% |
| Total Carbohydrate 10g | 4% |
| Dietary Fiber 3g | 9% |
| Total Sugars 5g | |
| Protein 5g | |
| Vitamin C 25mg | 126% |
| Calcium 121mg | 9% |
| Iron 1mg | 5% |
| Potassium 300mg | 6% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
