West Coast Italian Long Hot Peppers

These roasted peppers are sweet, spicy, and full of fire.

This dish retains its heat and bold flavor wherever it's made—from the East Coast to the West Coast. Copyright © 2025 by Tara Punzone

My dad is obsessed with hot peppers, but the ones he loves the most are the Italian long hots. In each batch, most of the peppers are spicy, but there are always one or two that are so ridiculously hot they could almost melt your tongue. We used to wait and see which of us got that one, because only my dad and I could tolerate that tremendous amount of heat. It was our special bond. If my brother ate the hot one, he would swear off peppers for at least three months. My mother was smart: She didn’t eat them at all.

Now that both my dad and I live on the West Coast, where these Italian long hots aren’t sold, friends back East will send us cases of them. You can’t freeze the peppers, so when they arrive, we try to eat them all right away.

The peppers in this recipe are not as hot as the ones my dad loves. Here, we use mini sweet peppers mixed with California Fresno chiles, which are spicier. But you can use any peppers you want for this dish, although I would avoid green bells, as they are too bitter. I recommend making a big batch, as it will last throughout the week. Try the peppers on pasta, put some in a sandwich, or just eat as is.

Peppas

If you live on the East Coast and can find Italian long hot peppers, replace both types of peppers in this recipe with 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of the Italian long hots. Simply wash the whole peppers and toss them with the other ingredients before baking. This would be most similar to the dish I grew up eating!

The best part of this meal is taking a crunchy piece of Italian bread and soaking up all the juices the peppers were cooked in. This is one meal where nothing will go to waste. To add a delicious crunch, try topping with roasted pistachio crumble.

Serves 6 to 8

• 1 pound sweet mini peppers (bell peppers will work as well)
• 1/2 pound Fresno chiles (fresh cayenne or serrano chiles will work as well)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 2 tablespoons pepitas
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
• 2 teaspoons agave syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the sweet peppers into approximately 1-inch round pieces. Or, if you prefer, you can leave the sweet peppers whole to present them in their full beauty.

Slice the Fresno chiles into approximately 1/4-inch round, thin pieces. Remove the seeds.

In a large bowl, toss the peppers with the garlic, olive oil, raisins, pepitas, almonds, salt, black pepper, chile flakes, and agave syrup.

Arrange on a baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes, until soft.

Excerpted from “Vegana Italiana” by Tara Punzone & Gene Stone. Used by permission of Rodale Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.