Giada De Laurentiis Despises This Popular Vegetable
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Giada De Laurentiis does not despise tomatoes, if that's what you were thinking. Despising tomatoes would probably be considered sacrilegious for the Roman-born Italian chef. However, the veggie De Laurentiis is not a lover of is almost as prominent in Italian cuisine as tomatoes are — peppers! In an interview with EatingWell, she said "I stay away from peppers partly because they don't like me," implying she experiences discomfort when she eats them. De Laurentiis further specified "any kind of pepper, whether it's red, yellow, green." This may come as a surprise since this veggie (although technically a fruit, like tomatoes) is prominent in Italian cuisine.
It's definitely not uncommon for even TV chefs like De Laurentiis to steer clear from certain foods. Gordon Ramsey avoids 11 foods at all costs, Guy Fieri can't get behind eating eggs, and Ina Garten doesn't even include one divisive herb in her recipes. For De Luarentiis, peppers still make an appearance in her cooking, especially since her family enjoys eating them. "We grill them, we make them as a relish and I actually have pepper recipes in ["Super-Italian: More Than 110 Indugent Recipes Using Italy's Healthiest Foods"], but I personally stay away from them."
How to skip the bell peppers (and what Giada reaches for instead)
There is one pepper-based ingredient that Giada De Laurentiis can't get enough of: Calabrian chili paste, a spicy condiment made of chili peppers from Italy's Calabria region. This should come as no surprise to her longtime fans since De Laurentiis includes this flavor-boosting condiment in several of her recipes, both on-screen and in her cookbooks throughout the years. She even has her own Calabrian chili paste product from her brand, Giadzy. Perhaps the differing tolerance De Laurentiis has for chili peppers compared to bell peppers is due to the distinct compounds each type of pepper contains, and the varying rate of digestibility in different individuals.
If you're like De Laurentiis and find that eating bell peppers isn't your cup of tea (or if you're sensitive to all peppers), there are several vegetables that can substitute the role peppers play and have just as great a flavor. Instead of using a bell pepper for stuffed peppers, for example, try using zucchini instead. Start by slicing a medium-to-large zucchini in half lengthwise, scooping out the insides, and drizzling with olive oil. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the scooped-out zucchini for 15 to 20 minutes. Once done, stuff them with the filling and pop them back in the oven until the zucchini is fork-tender and the filling is warmed through. To replace munching on raw bell peppers, celery is a fantastic vessel; fill its cavity when cut into sticks or simply use them to scoop up dip.