Friariello Pepper

Sweet and flavorful with a distinctive Italian taste and occasional hint of bitterness; purely sweet when green and harvested young.

Friariello peppers are elongated, slender, cone-shaped fruits typically 3 to 5 inches long with thin skin and sweet, mild flesh. They start green and ripen to bright red, though they are most often used while still green for their fresh, slightly bitter-sweet taste. Plants are tall and bushy, reaching 2-3 feet, highly productive, and bear abundant fruits that point upward or pendant. This landrace has been cultivated for generations in southern Italy, where it features prominently in Neapolitan cuisine. The peppers are non-pungent or very mildly hot at most, making them ideal for everyday cooking. They thrive in warm conditions and are easy to grow in gardens or containers. Culinary traditions include frying whole or sliced in olive oil with garlic, adding tomatoes and basil for a classic dish, pickling for antipasti, roasting, or stuffing. They pair well with Mediterranean ingredients and serve as a milder alternative to hotter Italian peppers.

An ancient Italian landrace from the Naples area in Campania, Friariello peppers have been a staple in southern Italian cooking for centuries, brought to Europe after the Columbian exchange and selected locally for sweetness and productivity.