Crispy dried sweet peppers from Basilicata are called peperoni cruschi. They have a very thin and aromatic skin which makes them extremely crunchy and delicious. Crispy dried sweet peppers from Basilicata by Parco Verde are handmade: they are harvested at peak maturity and left in the sun to dry for a month. Once they are ready, peppers are brushed and plunged into boiling oil. Peppers are then taken out of the frying pan to cool down; the ensuing thermal shock makes them crunchier and crumblier than chips.

How to use them in the kitchen? If you manage not to finish the whole thing before grabbing pans and pots, these dried sweet peppers taste amazing chopped up on a pasta dish dressed with garlic, oil and red hot chilli pepper or on a roasted bread slice with anchovies from Cetara.

Try them with:

• Anchovies from Cetara

• Pasta from Gragnano

• Aged Ricotta