Soppressata from Citarella’s Market paired with some pickled cherry peppers from the garden and a piece cheddar cheese. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
Citarella’s Market in Red Bank carries a few different cured dry sausages that they bring in from Pastosa’s in Brooklyn.
PieHole recently picked up a sweet soppressata (approx $15 per pound) from the Prospect Avenue shop. At home, we put together a quick lunch with some pickled hot cherry peppers from this summer’s garden and a piece of cheddar leftover from a recent party.
We’re going easy on the bread these days, so this lunch was eaten like an impromptu antipasta, with a slice of sausage stacked with cheese and pepper for insertion into the piehole with clean fingers.
The dry sausage has a strong flavor that stands up nicely against the heat from the cherry peppers. If we’d had some leftover provolone, it would have been better than the cheddar, but when you’re using up leftovers you can’t be that choosey.
