Banana Peppers

Season: summer

Storage: Place in a paper bag in a crisp drawer after bought.

Other Names: sweet banana, banana chile

Fun Facts: Banana peppers are names after their close resemblance to bananas. They are bright yellow in color and have a longer shape rather than the typical round shape most peppers have. They are mild in flavor. 

Get local banana peppers by joining our Farm Share or shopping at farmer’s markets, then share your favorite preparations through our Facebook page.

Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

From “Daily Dish Recipes” by Nicole Cook

Ingredients

  • For the Cheese Filling:
    4 ounces of cream cheese

  • 8 ounces of shredded mild Cheddar cheese

  • 1 Tablespoon of finely minced garlic

  • 3 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

  • ¼ teaspoon of paprika or cayenne pepper, paprika for more smokey flavor, cayenne for some more spice

  • For the Poppers:
    7 banana peppers

  • 1 cup milk

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 2 eggs, whisked

  • 1 cup of bread crumbs, I used garlic and herb for some added flavor

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients together to get your cream cheese filling. Set aside.

  • Clean Your Banana Peppers with cold water. Set them aside to dry.

  • Once dry, slice the tops of each pepper. (just the top end) Next, slice the banana peppers in half lengthwise. Try to make as straight a cut as you can to end at the tip. Next scrape out all the little seeds. Do this part gently, because the banana peppers are fragile, you can easily split them or tear them.

  • Fill each banana pepper halve with cheese mixture.

  • Cover them and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

  • Once chilled, dip the banana peppers into milk, then flour and set aside to dry about 5 minutes.

  • After 5 minutes, dip them carefully into your beaten eggs, coating them entirely.

  • Transfer them immediately to the bread crumbs and gently coat them.

  • Transfer the bread crumb coated banana peppers to your baking sheet.

  • Put them into a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Banana Pepper Soup

From “The Art of Natural Living” by Inger

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground pork

  • 1 large onion, chopped

  • 7 medium/large banana peppers, seeded and chopped

  • 3 garlic cloves, minced

  • ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

  • ¼ teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

  • 1 t Worcestershire sauce

  • 1/8 t cayenne pepper (or to taste)

  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

  • 4 cups chicken stock or broth

  • 1 cup milk

  • 4 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed

  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella, for topping

  • 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs, for topping

Instructions

  • In a stock pot or Dutch oven, brown the pork over medium heat, crumbling and stirring until the pork just starts to turn crusty and fragrant. Drain excess fat, leaving about a Tablespoon.

  • Add the onion, peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce and Italian seasoning. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables become just tender. Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.

  • Slowly stir in the chicken broth and milk. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer, stirring often, until the mixture thickens.

  • Add the cubed cream cheese and stir until melted. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and cayenne as needed.

  • For each serving, fill a soup bowl or broiler-proof serving bowl. Top each with shredded mozzarella and a sprinkle of toasted breadcrumbs. Optionally (and only with broiler safe dishes), broil until golden and melted

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