Pork chops with vinegar peppers

A recipe inspired by the Italian festival classic: sausage and peppers.

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When I first moved to North Jersey for college in 2005, one of my first introductions to Italian-American culture in the Northeast was The Feast of San Gennaro, an annual festival held in mid-September in Manhattan.

For about 10 days, part of Soho becomes a frenzied carnival of Italian-American culture, packed to the gills with food vendors, people eating and drinking in the street (mostly behaved) and Italian music booming from every restaurant.

The lines tend to be long, and the sausage and pepper stands are organized chaos. The guys manning the grill are sweaty and curt, ready to take your order with little patience for indecision. You choose between spicy and regular sausage, giant coils sitting on the grill crisped and ready, and they’re pilled into a roll with a scoop of peppers and onions, cooked in the salty fat of the pork. It’s messy and glorious.

This recipe is the more relaxed, sit down version, but still suits the vibes of early fall. The nights are starting to cool down, but summer bell peppers are still available at farmers’ markets. It’s the perfect recipe to ease us into the next season, blaring Italian music optional.

Pork chops with vinegar peppers

This dish has all the flavors of sausage and peppers without the side of chaotic festival. It’s relatively simple so you can tackle it on a weeknight, yet refined enough that it’s great for an elevated weekend meal. Serve with a light red and enjoy while sitting outside to take in the last bits of warm weather.