A recipe from Molise, a tiny region of Southern Italy, little-known by tourists as well as Italians themselves, so much so that they often joke about the fact that Molise does not exist!
Well it actually does, my family comes from there! And today we are making a dish that truly represents it. Affunnatielle, a name that refers to the way you are supposed to eat the dish: dipping slices of bread directly in the pan where it’s cooked.
The traditional recipe calls for a local variety of peppers called “Friggitelli”. Unfortunately they are difficult to come by in the States, but I found a great substitute for them: Shishito Peppers.
SERVES 2
Ingredients
4 eggs
8 oz of shishito peppers
½ onion (thinly sliced)
5 tomatoes on the vine (roughly chopped)
1 tbsp of chopped parsley
4 basil leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Wash the shishito peppers and remove their stems.
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan on medium/high heat.
Add the onion and gently sauté them for a couple of minutes. When it starts to turn translucent, add the peppers, mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped parsley, and basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium/low, cover with a lid and let simmer.
After a couple of minutes of simmering, remove the lid and add 1 cup of water. Stir well and cover again with the lid. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid sticking the sauce to the pan.
At this point the sauce starts to thicken. With the help of a spoon, create 4 wells in the sauce, crack the eggs one by one and place them in the holes you just created. Sprinkle a little pinch of salt on each egg.
Place a lid on the pan and let cook for about 3 minutes, until the egg white sets but the yolk is still runny.
Serve immediately, in the pan, accompanied by some good slices of bread.
Buon Appetito!
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