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–+ servings

Stuffed Peppers

Dinner
Sweet bell peppers roasted until their skins blister and their flesh goes soft and yielding, stuffed with herbed rice, tomatoes, and melted cheese. The peppers taste caramelized and almost jammy, whilst the filling is fragrant with Provençal herbs, thyme, oregano, maybe a bit of basil. It's the vegetarian version of a Provençal classic, comforting, sunny-flavored, and surprisingly filling.
Stuffed Peppers recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients 

Equipment

Instructions

  1. 1. Prepare the peppers
    Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Cut the tops off the peppers, about 2cm down from the stem, and keep the tops. Scoop out all the seeds and white membrane from inside. If the peppers won't stand upright, slice a tiny bit off the bottom to give them a flat base, but don't cut through into the cavity. Rub the outside of each pepper with a bit of olive oil. Place them cut-side down on a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes, this softens them slightly and makes the final bake quicker. Set aside.
  2. 2. Make the filling
    Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 6-7 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, letting them break down into a sauce. If using pine nuts, add them now and toast for 2 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper.
  3. 3. Build the filling mixture
    Take the pan off the heat and tip everything into a large mixing bowl. Add the cooked rice, breadcrumbs, half the grated cheese, the eggs, and all the fresh herbs. Mix everything together really well, use your hands, it's easier. The mixture should be moist but not wet, and should hold together when you squeeze it. Taste it and adjust the seasoning, it needs to be quite well seasoned because the peppers will dilute the flavour.
  4. 4. Stuff the peppers
    Pour the passata or tomato sauce into the bottom of your roasting dish, this keeps the peppers moist and stops them sticking. Stand the peppers upright in the oven dish. Spoon the rice filling into each pepper, packing it in firmly and mounding it slightly on top. Don't worry if it's heaped up, it'll settle as it cooks. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese over the top of each pepper. Drizzle with a little olive oil. You can put the pepper tops back on at this point if you want, though many people leave them off.
  5. 5. Bake
    Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the peppers are really soft and slightly charred around the edges, and the filling is golden and set on top. The peppers should be tender enough that you can cut through them easily with a fork.
  6. 6. Rest and serve
    Let them sit for 5 minutes before serving, they're molten hot straight from the oven and need a moment to settle. Serve each pepper with some of the tomato sauce from the bottom of the dish spooned around it.

Notes

  • Cook your rice the day before if you can, cold rice works better in the filling because it's less sticky and absorbs flavours better.
  • Leftover cooked rice is perfect for this.
  • Red and yellow peppers are sweeter than green when roasted. Orange works too. Avoid green, they stay bitter.
  • For a vegan version, skip the eggs and cheese. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato purée and an extra handful of breadcrumbs to bind the filling. Top with nutritional yeast instead of cheese.
  • If you like it more substantial, add cooked lentils to the rice mixture, about 100g.
  • Fresh herbs make a real difference here. If using dried, halve the quantities.
  • These keep in the fridge for 3 days. They're actually good cold, proper picnic food.
  • You can freeze the stuffed (but uncooked) peppers. Defrost completely before baking, and add 10 minutes to the cooking time.
  • Toasted pine nuts add a lovely texture, but they're not essential. Swap for chopped walnuts if you prefer!