Sweet Peppers

The sweet peppers are those that have very little bite to them—or none at all. At 0-1000 Scoville Units, they may have a little tang, but that's about it. Sweet peppers generally prefer a rich soil that has been enriched with compost and bright morning sunlight with filtered afternoon light.

Bell pepper plants are vigorous upright plants producing the archetypal green pepper, or yellow, orange, red and even purple fruit. Bell pepper skins are glossy and deeply colored, with the flesh being crisp and succulent. Bell pepper plants measure 18-30 inches in height and are generally very productive. Bell peppers are delicious eaten fresh in green and pasta salads, and make a wonderful addition to spaghetti sauce. One of the most common bell pepper recipes, however, is Stuffed Bell Peppers. Follow these simple guidelines for using peppers for some delicious stuffed bell peppers.

The 'Jingle Bell' pepper plant produces miniature bell peppers measuring less than 1 inch long. This variety is excellent for container growing. A tray of stuffed miniature bell peppers is delightful for hors d'oeuvres.

Pimento is the Spanish word for "pepper." Also called pimientos, these sweet peppers are juicy, aromatic, heart-shaped miniature peppers. They are popular stuffers and delicious for eating fresh off the plant. These are vigorous, highly productive plants that produce early maturing fruit measuring 3-4 inches long by 2-3 inches wide. Pimentos are best when fully mature and scarlet red. Try chopped pimento in pasta salad—it adds depth to the flavors and brightens the salad with its brilliant color. Pimentos are available fresh in late summer and early fall, but are available year round preserved in oil in your grocer's condiments aisle.

Relleno peppers are dependably very mild tasting and are the traditional stuffing pepper. The plant measures about 18 inches tall and produces many blunt ended peppers measuring 9 to 12 inches long and 2 inches wide at the base. The peppers are red when mature at about 75 days.

'Italian Sweet' is a very sweet, earlier maturing relleno variety whose fruits measure 6 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide. These versatile peppers are delicious stuffed, roasted or fried.

Sweet banana peppers, or sweet Hungarian wax peppers, are popular garden-variety peppers. The banana pepper is a very productive plant producing banana-shaped fruits that change from pale yellow to orange to red over a 65-day maturation period.

Bell Peppers
Color: Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple
Uses: Fresh, Stuffing, Salads
Species: Capsicum annuum
Size: 4 to 6" long



Pimentos
Color: Green, Red
Uses: Fresh, Stuffing
Species: Capsicum annuum
Size: 2 to 3½" long



Rellenos
Color: Green, Red
Uses: Stuffing, Roasting, Frying
Species: Capsicum annuum
Size: 9 to 12" long



Sweet Banana Peppers
Color: Yellow, Red
Uses: Drying, Stuffing
Species: Capsicum annuum
Size: 4 to 6" long