Italians love stuffed foods. They’re not alone, of course. The Poles, for example, are famous for stuffed cabbage. But no other cuisine takes it to the same extreme, as far as I know. Stuffed artichokes, stuffed zucchini, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed clams—and when you think about it, manicotti and cannoli are stuffed, too. There’s just something festive about it, like getting a little surprise.
One of the great things about stuffed dishes is that you don’t necessarily need a recipe—you can use whatever you have on hand. Though of course, if you are following the Italian tradition of cooking whatever is in season, you’ll probably end up with ingredients that complement each other. What grows together goes together. That being said, they typically all involve some sort of cheese.
Here’s a recipe for stuffed peppers. This is a vegetarian version, but it’s often made with sautéed ground beef as well. Many stuffings involve bread crumbs, but this one uses rice (the bread crumbs would be too heavy for this). In fact, it’s a great way to use up your leftover rice. If you’re getting your peppers from the market (as opposed to your garden), be sure to pick some that will stand upright and not fall over.
As with most stuffed foods, the proportions are really subjective. You might start with the stuffing, then decide how many peppers it will fill before hollowing out the peppers. It’s fine to use canned tomato sauce here. If you’re using just tomato puree, you’ll want to add a bit of thyme and basil.
Print
What you need
Ripe red peppers, 2 to 4
Cooked rice
Tomato sauce or puree
Semisoft cheese such as Fontina
Grated cheese (Parmegiano or Romano)
Garbanzo beans (chick peas)
Green olives, chopped coarsely
Scallions
Thyme, basic, oregano, pepper, parsley (all optional)
How you make it
- Add a few tablespoons of tomato sauce or puree to the cooked rice and mix. Coat the rice well, but don’t make it soupy.
- Add chopped semisoft cheese and grated cheese.
- Add whole chick peas. For every cup of rice, maybe a half or three-quarter cup of chick peas.
- Add a few tablespoons of chopped green olives and a bit of chopped scallions. You can also add a bit of chopped parsley if you have it.
- Mix well.
- Cut a circle with a serrated knife around the tops of the peppers and remove them. Also remove the inner seeds and membranes—kind of like hollowing out a pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern!
- Carefully fill the peppers with the stuffing and set upright on a pie pan or casserole dish.
- Bake in medium-high (~375℉) until brown, roughy 30 minutes. Rotate the pan to ensure they cook evenly.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving.
If you have any left over, you can reheat it by slicing it in half and laying both halves, stuffed-side up, beneath the broiler for a few minutes.
Buon appetito!
Recent Comments