Bell pepper

Preparation

Thinly sliced; pre-cooking softens it and reduces excess moisture release

High water content; thick raw slices may not fully soften in a short bake

Applied before baking.

History and cultural context

A New World fruit (genus Capsicum) that reached Mediterranean and other European cuisines after the Columbian Exchange. Sweet peppers have a long-established place in Southern Italian cooking — for example Sicilian and Calabrian peperonata-style stewed-pepper dishes — that predates their use as a pizza topping; their use raw or roasted on pizza is a more recent, internationally widespread convention rather than a defining feature of any single historic Italian pizza style. The Italian word for bell pepper, peperone, is also the direct source of the naming confusion behind 'pepperoni' documented in this catalogue's separate pepperoni record.

A standard vegetable topping internationally, typically sliced thin so it softens rather than staying raw-crisp through the bake.

• The Oxford Companion to Food — Oxford University Press
• Accademia Italiana della Cucina — regional Italian food documentation — Accademia Italiana della Cucina

Pairs well with

• Italian sausage

  Explicitly noted as a good balance for Bell pepper.

• Fried egg (post-bake)

  Adds textural contrast against Bell pepper. Best added fresh after baking, for brightness against Bell pepper.

• Pepperoni

  Adds textural contrast against Bell pepper.

• Soppressata

  Adds textural contrast against Bell pepper.

• Guanciale

  Adds textural contrast against Bell pepper.

• 'Nduja

  Adds textural contrast against Bell pepper.

Styles using this topping

• Chicago deep-dish pizzaCommonly usedGenerally accepted

  A common addition within the heavy filling, pre-cooked to manage moisture over the long bake.

• Colorado mountain pieRegionally commonLimited evidence

  A common vegetable addition alongside sausage in this hearty style.

• Indian-style pizzaCommonly usedLimited evidence

  A common vegetable addition alongside the spice-marinated proteins and corn, though not itself one of the style's distinguishing flavour choices.