Reclaiming the Stuffed Pepper

The term ‘Stuffed Peppers’ tends to conjure up terrifying images of sour green peppers filled with a bland minced beef mixture, baked for hours in the oven only to create an unrelentingly tough, bitter pepper shell filled with a nasty, dried out filling. Retro? Yes. Tasty? Hell no. No-one should be subjected to such a monstrosity of a dish. In fact, not to put too fine a point on it, but green peppers are just generally offensive and should not be allowed in the kitchen. Too often they are found chopped up and thrown in sauces, stews and salads and it is always to the detriment of the dish.

Red and yellow peppers however - now these are a different matter entirely.

Roast them long enough in the oven and they break down to produce the most gorgeous, soft, fleshy little things, oozing sweet juices. I bought some from the market the other day and devised this recipe. I hope that my vibrant and summery take on this dish, bursting with fresh Mediterranean flavours, will restore your faith in the stuffed pepper. It certainly did for me.

Roasted Red and Yellow Peppers with Chorizo and Feta.

Plump little pepper boats, sweet and juicy, laden with spicy chorizo and feta cheese, amidst a mound of exceptionally tasty rice favoured with herbs, wine, tomatoes and the oils of the chorizo. These little beauties are bursting full of vibrant flavours and are so juicy and fresh. Delish.

The peppers are heavenly served straight from the oven with a rocket salad but because they are so juicy and moist that they are also fantastic cold (I’ve been taking them into work for lunch all week, much to the envy of my fellow colleagues) or heated up (in the microwave rather than the oven so as not to lose any of the moisture).

RECIPE

3 Red Peppers
3 Yellow Peppers
150g long-grain Rice, cooked in vegetable stock
1 large Clove of Garlic, finely chopped
1 Red Onion, finely chopped
125g Chorizo, chopped into about 1cm cubes
100g Feta Cheese
2 tbsp Red Wine
2/3 tin of Chopped Tomatoes
200mls Vegetable Stock
A handful of fresh Rosemary, Basil and Parsley, roughly chopped
Olive Oil
A pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180⁰c. Slice the peppers in half lengthwise through their stalks, rub a little olive oil onto their skins and place them skin side down in a deep baking tray (you will need probably need two trays to fit them all in).

Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a deep frying pan or casserole dish, add the onion and allow to soften for 3-4minutes. Add the garlic and chorizo and heat to release the oils in the chorizo and then add the rice and wine.

Allow the wine to reduce for a minute and then pour in the chopped tomatoes. Heat through for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the fresh herbs, salt and pepper along with half of the feta and mix well.

Transfer the rice mixture into the pepper shells, press down with a spoon to compact it slightly, and top with the rest of the feta. Drizzle the peppers generously with olive oil and place the trays in the oven. Cook for about 45 minutes (possibly slightly longer for larger peppers) or until the peppers have gone soft and ‘collapsed’ slightly.