stuffed peppers

[torakris]

I have a bag full of gorgeous peppers and want to stuff them for dinner.

I just can't decide what to stuff them with.....

what are some of your favorite stuffings for pepper?

[Jason Perlow]

Ground beef and seasoned cooked rice with chopped up sauteed peppers and onions... sausage and tomato sauce and onions mixture

[NVNVGirl]

I don't eat stuffed peppers any other way than this....it's more of a side dish than a main dish, but whatever it is, it's delicious! I've taken these to the jazz concerts at Mondavi during the summer and they hold up just fine!

COLD BELL PEPPERS STUFFED WITH RICOTTA CHEESE AND HERBS

seana

You can stuff and bake the peppers the day before. Serve them whole or cut crosswise into ½ inch thick slices and fan them on plates. Try to purchase peppers with flat, even bottoms so they will stand upright during baking. Serve as an appetizer to a grilled chicken or fish dinner.

6 servings

Peppers

3 medium-size yellow bell peppers

3 medium-size red bell peppers

3 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary or ¼ tsp dried, crumbled

Salt and pepper

Dressing

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper

1/3 cup coarsely chopped basil

Kalamata olives

For peppers: Lightly oil 9x13 inch baking dish. Char peppers over gas flame or in broiler until blackened in several spots on all sides. Wrap in plastic bag and let stand 20 minutes to steam. Peel charred skin off peppers. Rinse peppers under running water. Cut 1 inch off peppers at stem end. Remove seeds. Pat peppers dry with paper towels. Arrange peppers cut side up in prepared baking dish.

Preheat oven to 325 deg. Mix ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, garlic and rosemary in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon stuffing into peppers. Bake until filling begins to set and tops are just crusty, about 35 minutes. Cool, then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.(Can be prepared 1 day ahead)

For dressing: Whisk garlic, vinegar, mustard and tomato paste in bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Store at room temp)

Arrange peppers on platter. Mix basil into dressing and spoon over peppers. Garnish with olives and serve.

[ronnie_suburban]

I like to roast them (then skin them), fill them with goat cheese and then bake them in a black bean sauce or puree. I first had this preparation at Meson Sabika, a tapas restaurant near my office. Mine aren't as good as theirs but either way, they're very good like this.

=R=

[Mayhaw Man]

I'm with Jason. The rice and meat thing is hard to beat.

Sometimes, when I'm in a hurry and peppers are cheap and plentiful at Sam's (think Costco), I will go and pick up a couple of pounds of boudin and squish it out into a bowl, add some small shrimp or chop of some big ones, mix the whole thing up, stuff into barely par boiled peppers, and bake until bubbling, throwing on a little mozz at the end to finish.

This would be the South La version of Rachel Ray.

[patti]

Me three with the rice and meat. The meat is usually an equal parts mixture of ground beef and pork, browned along with the trinity before mixing with the rice. Topped with breadcrumbs and parmesan.

Mayhaw Man, using boudin is pure genius. Have you ever used seafood boudin?

[Jason Perlow]

Wow Brooks, that sounds really good.

Now I'm jonesing for some dirty rice stuffed peppers or tomatoes.

[Jason Perlow]

Pre-cooked saffron rice works really well as the binder for the trinity-beef mixture (although to be perfectly honest, and call me a heretic, I dont really think celery adds much, so we almost never use it, I'd rather use a combo of red and green bell pepper and more onion). It adds that extra something -- don't forget the Tabasco sauce and creole spice mix.

[torakris]

I usually do the meat and rice stuffing too, this time I have been tossing about ideas like stuffed with a saffron risotto, or a couscous mixture, or maybe something with feta cheese as i have a block in the fridge.

That ricotta stuffing sounds great, if only it wasn't so expensive here....

[patti]

...call me a heretic, I dont really think celery adds much, so we almost never use it, I'd rather use a combo of red and green bell pepper and more onion). It adds that extra something -- don't forget the Tabasco sauce and creole spice mix.

←

You're a heretic!

Actually, I shouldn't call it the trinity, because I rarely use celery. My trinity is onion, green bell pepper, and garlic. And really, as often as not, a bit of red bell pepper, too, so let's fuggedabout the trinity altogether.

In my cooking, Tabasco and Tony Chachere's Creole Spice Mix might go without saying, but are almost always implied.

[lovebenton0]

For a little different twist on the meat and rice stuffing . . .

Ground lamb and rice in roasted/peeled red bell peppers with sweet onions, garlic, and basil. I like to use either lemon basil or cinnamon basil with this, depending on what I want to serve as sides. Bake 'til done then top with crushed croutes and drizzle with a bit of fragrant olive oil (garlic and crushed red pepper).

[eslamprey]

I like to stuff peppers with mushroom risotto:

soak 1 cup of dried chanterelle mushrooms in enough warm chicken stock and sauvignon blanc to cover, until mushrooms are soft

cut the tops off 6 peppers and clean out seeds. save the tops and set the peppers aside for roasting later.

chop the pepper tops, one yellow or orange pepper, 4 shallots and 3 cloves of garlic and saute in olive oil until peppers are soft. set aside.

remove the mushrooms from the liquid, and finely chop. save the liquid and add it to

6 cups of chicken broth and 1 1/2 cups sauvignon blanc then bring to a boil. meanwhile,

saute 1 1/2 cups arborio rice in 1/4 cup olive oil for 5 minutes in a large pan.

pour 1/3 of the broth into the rice, reduce heat to simmer covered until liquid is 2/3 absorbed, about 10 minutes; repeat process until liquid is used up and absorbed into the rice, about 30 minutes give or take.

add the chopped mushrooms, then 5 minutes later add the pepper/shallot mixture. finally stir in 3 cups of baby spinach then turn off the heat. let the rice sit covered, while you

grill or roast the peppers until soft, with lovely grill marks.

stuff the peppers with the risotto; serve them by placing the peppers on top of a mound of risotto and serve topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

[Susan in FL]

I'm not sure if this is the usual way for stuffing peppers with ground beef or whatever, but it's the only way I knew growing up. My mom always used to stuff the peppers with ground meat she had already browned (browned with the chopped onion and garlic and herbs and all that usual stuff); let that mixture cool a bit; then add to that two or three lightly beaten eggs with grated parmigiano or romano cheese; and then stuff the peppers with that wet-with-egg mixture. She cooked them stove top, by starting with the cut side down in a very hot skillet, searing them to seal the openings of the peppers by the egg. After browning all over, turn down the heat, add some tomato sauce, and let them simmer until the egg is cooked, but it's still moist inside.

This was sooooo good. I stuff peppers this way maybe once a year, and it is real good, but like a few of these unique handed-down recipes, it never tastes exactly like hers.

[TJHarris]

Kristin,

I think you may hae hit the nail on the head.

I do a cous-cous stuffing with feta, olives, capers and roasted garlic. Top the filled peppers with slices of roma tomato and drizzle with evoo, grind of fresh pepper and salt.

[Kapuliperson]

i usually stuff them with sauteed tofu with chives/carrots ..

[KatieLoeb]

I usually stuff them with ground meat (usually beef, sometimes with ground turkey or chicken) and seasoned rice and then cook them in a pressure cooker with the Eastern European style sweet and sour tomato sauce. They come out quickly, thoroughly cooked and the sauce thickens up nicely without having to heat up the whole house with the oven on.

[torakris]

tofu..... I like that idea.

I didn't have a whole lot in the house yesterday so I ended up sauteing some onions to which I added some bulgur, stock, dried oregano and double concentrate tomato paste. I simmered it until the bulgur was fluffy then I tossed in some fresh mint and feta cheese, then seasoned with lemon juice and salt and pepper. It was quite good but I wish I had had some kalamata olives...

[foodE]

I stuff them with chorizo, browned, removed from the casings and rice. I also add tomato sauce, a lot of chopped garlic, pimento stuffed olives, dried oregano, and hot pepper flakes. Top with alittle more tomato sauce and mozzarella.

People have fought over the last serving of my stuffed peppers!

[ludja]

I like to stuff peppers with mushroom risotto:

...

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Thanks for the idea and recipe eslamprey.

(And welcome too, by the way! ).

I have a few vegetarian friends and this is a great idea that could be used as a main course dish using veg stock.

I love the 'traditional' rice and ground beef stuffing too. Always serve this with a homemade tomato sauce the way my grandmother in Austria makes it: a roux, salt and pepper and parsley, a pinch of sugar and fresh tomatoes.

Recipe for Austrian Paradeis (or Paradeisapfel) Soss :

Cook the chopped tomatoes with a little water first, then add roux and rest of ingredients and put thru a food mill. Don't need a lot of roux to get the right flavor and texture. Although the ingredients don't sound that different it makes a great tasting sauce that goes excellent with stuffed peppers--really fresh flavor of tomatoes that is surprizingly different without the garlic, onion, oregano. It's a great dish to make in August/September with the abundance of peppers and tomatoes.

Meat filling for "Gefullte Paprikaschoten": ground beef, cooked rice, salt and pepper, margarom, onions, parsley, egg. Saute onions and parsely in fat or butter. Cook ground beef and add with rest of ingredients and stuff peppers. Simmer peppers, standing up, in tomato sauce until done.

[chow guy]

I just made them tonight. I usually clean out the fridge for stuffing ingredients. Tonight it was left over sausage, brown rice, sauteed garlic, onions, marjoram and cumin, tomatoes and a little marinara, black olives, capers, toasted pine nuts with some grated cheddar/jack on top.

[Kevin72]

I did them Sicilian style about a month back: stuffed with breadcrumbs, pecorino, chopped anchovies (optional, but why not?) pine nuts, capers, currants, mint, oregano, chilies. Also, stealing from Mario, I spritzed them with a little red wine vinegar and water before they went into the oven: made a very nice, super-concentrated pan drippings to spoon back over as they were served.

[ronnie_suburban]

I usually clean out the fridge for stuffing ingredients.

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A time-honored culinary tradition which often produces the very best results.

=R=

[ruthcooks]

I've seen them filled with corn pudding or a cheesy quiche mixture.

Two tips for sturdiness:

1. Rather than whole peppers, choose very large ones and cut in half, making two "cups". The squattier shape has better balance and won't tip over so easily.

2. Bake individually in muffin pans.

I find there are more pepper haters than lovers--and I too like a bigger proportion of stuffing to pepper--so I usually put stuffing, sort of a Spanish Rice with sausage and bacon, in a casserole and cover the top with pieces of pepper.

Edited October 5, 2004 by ruthcooks (log)

[wilewil]

My mother used to make use of leftover ham. Coasely grind it with onion and some hot peppers, stir in corn kernals cut from the cob - stuff - bake surrounded and topped with tomato sauce. It was good

[karma police]

I like to take red peppers, cut along their "creases" to make boats. Stuff with very thinly sliced zucchini, garlic, thyme, sal, pepper, evoo and Italian fontina. Top with bread crumbs and a drizzle of evoo. Bake until warmed through and brown on top. Always gets compliments. To be fair, I believe I found this in a Marcella Hazan cookbook yeas ago but do not recall which one.