Kitchen Pepper
Use the rounded red fruit of Tondo Calabrese for small cheese-filled peppers, roasted antipasti and tomato sauces. Check the heat before preparing whole-pepper portions: references differ, and a precise Scoville value is not confirmed for this seed lot.
CASA VERDE · HEAT PROFILE
Mild
- Sweet
- Mild — this variety
- Medium
- Hot
- Super hot
Scoville range awaiting confirmation.
Understanding the heat
A diamond marks the midpoint of a listed range, or the listed value when only one number is given. An arrow marks a stated limit. These are variety guides, not measurements of our seed lot. This guide uses unequal numerical bands: sweet 0; mild up to 10,000; medium 10,000–50,000; hot 50,000–800,000; super hot from 800,000 SHU (display capped at 3 million). Heat varies between fruits and with growing conditions.
No numeric marker is shown without a sufficiently clear range. For bundles, the highlighted categories refer to the different varieties.
A Scoville range has not been listed for this variety.
Shop all pepper seeds in Canada
- Origin
- Calabria
FROM GARDEN TO KITCHEN
Tondo Calabrese, from seed to supper.
Use round red peppers in small filled portions, tomato sauces and dried seasoning. Check the heat of your harvest and adjust quantities to taste.
01 / BAKE SMALL FILLED PORTIONS
Ricotta in a little red pepper cup.
Halve and deseed peppers suitable for a small filling. Add ricotta and a few breadcrumbs, then bake until the pepper is tender and the filling is hot. Try a small portion first; this lot’s exact heat is unconfirmed.
02 / SIMMER A TOMATO SAUCE
Round peppers for a pasta supper.
Cook a small amount of chopped pepper with tomato, onion and garlic. Taste the cooked sauce before adding more pepper, then toss with pasta and finish with shaved cheese if you like.
03 / DRY FOR SEASONING
A small pinch over warm beans.
Dry healthy ripe peppers thoroughly, then crush into flakes. Start with a small pinch over cooked white beans or roasted vegetables and adjust gradually. Avoid breathing pepper dust.
AI-generated culinary illustrations. Serving inspiration, not photographs of our harvest. Select a photo to enlarge.
CASA VERDE · GROWER’S NOTES
Get to know your pepper.
Round peppers for stuffing and cooking
Tondo Calabrese pepper seeds
Use the rounded red fruit of Tondo Calabrese for small cheese-filled peppers, roasted antipasti and tomato sauces. Check the heat before preparing whole-pepper portions: references differ, and a precise Scoville value is not confirmed for this seed lot.
At a glance
Species
Capsicum annuum
Fruit
Round, fleshy peppers ripening red
Kitchen role
Stuffing, roasting and sauces
Heat
Mild catalogue category; exact range unconfirmed
Why grow it?
The small, rounded shape is useful for individual filled portions. Grow it for the kitchen rather than a promise of a particular yield, uniform fruit size or fixed harvest date.
In the kitchen
- Fill and bake: Halve or open the peppers, remove seeds and fill with cheese or cooked grains. Bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is hot.
- Roast and chop: Roast ripe peppers for an antipasto plate or chop into tomato sauce.
- Prepare for later: Use a tested refrigerator-pickle recipe and keep it refrigerated. An oil covering alone does not make peppers shelf-stable.
Growing and harvesting
- Start indoors: Provide warm seed-starting conditions and bright light after emergence.
- Transplant: Harden plants off and wait until frost risk has passed and the soil and nights are warm.
- Site: Choose full sun, well-drained soil and steady moisture.
- Harvest: Allow healthy fruit to ripen red. Start indoors and choose a warm site after frost; harvest timing depends on the seed line and growing conditions.
Explore the catalogue
Pepper seeds CanadaPepper germination guideCommon questions
How hot is Tondo Calabrese?
Seed-producer descriptions range from mild to considerably hotter. A precise Scoville value is not confirmed for this seed lot, so taste a small amount before choosing whole-pepper portions.
Can I store stuffed peppers in oil at room temperature?
Do not use an oil covering alone as a preserving method. Use a tested recipe and follow its processing and storage instructions.
Are these seeds produced in Calabria?
The variety name refers to Calabria; the production origin of this seed lot has not been confirmed.
Seed note: the Mild catalogue label is a broad guide. Taste a small amount before deciding portions; the exact supplier selection and heat remain unconfirmed.
Cook your harvest
Use your harvest in these recipes. Check the variety notes and substitutions in each recipe.
Start indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost. Germinate at 26–30 °C on a heat mat; peppers stall below 22 °C. Pot up to 10–15 cm before hardening off outside after nights stay above 12 °C.
Feed balanced through bloom, then bump potassium for fruiting. Stake taller varieties. More detail in our full Canadian growing guide.
Match the pepper to the technique: thin-walled varieties blister fast in a hot pan; thick-walled ones roast or stuff beautifully; fruit-forward ones make balanced sauces and pickles. The variety's flavour profile is your shortcut — see Choosing the right pepper for a use-case guide.
