For me it often ends up being a quick lunch, but of course Stuffed peppers are great as a side dish, or as an added dish to your BBQ event.
Here some ideas;
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Stuffing peppers has been done for many centuries, all around the globe. Bell peppers are a very versatile vegetable, in other words, they go with almost everything. If you like to know a bit more about the history of stuffed peppers, check out this youtube video from Recipe rewind.
👩🏽🍳 This recipe's inspiration
The stuffed pepper recipe which I uploaded with this post is one of the million things you can do with peppers. This particular recipe I like to make during summer. We have an overload of courgettes in my region during summer, so the courgette integrates with many dishes around that time. I love the combination of the nutty flavours of quinoa and pan fried courgette with the Za'atar mix spices.
What is za'atar?
Zaatar is a culinairy herb which is very popular in the East-Mediterranean cuisine. In this recipe I have used a Za'atar mixture. These mixtures are very common in the Mediterranean, so often families have their own 'secret' Zaatar mixtures. In this case the mixture I used contains;
- sesame seeds
- dried sumac
- cumin seeds
- oregano
- marjoram
- salt
📖 Variations
I could probably fill a whole book on stuffing peppers, but to give you a bit of inspiration, here are the ones I made recently;
A whole pepper stuffed with absorbio rice (paella rice), cooked in fresh tomato puree and giant white beans. This is a very Spanish style stuffed pepper, with which most often tomato puree is used. As well as beans and spices such as paprika powder. A very nutritious and warming meal. Served with some pimientos de padron.
These peppers are stuffed in a more Asian style way. I stuffed them with a spicy fried rice mixture, with green peas. Spice goes very well with peppers. I mean peppers & peppers, all the same family 😉 Some herbs on top (maybe a splash of lime juice) Super Yummy!
I guess with this one I went all the way 'nutty'. I pre-roasted the cauliflower, I love the nuttiness cauliflower releases when roasted. And I used a local camargue rice (naturally very nutty). Added lots of toasted seeds, and a chestnut sauce. This would definitely be an autumn dish for me.
I hope with these ideas you will find your own favourite stuffed peppers recipe. I love to see the results! Add @haricoco1 to your insta post or comment down below.
TIP; Stuffed peppers are a great way to use leftovers! 😉
📋 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large green bell peppers cut in halve
- 1 large courgette sliced in rounds
- 2 spring onions chopped
- 120 grams (¾ cups) quinoa
- 240 ml hot salted water
- 2 Tablespoons zaatar
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- ½ lemon juiced
- 2 round radishes sliced
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C / 390F
- Rinse the quinoa in cold water. In a small pot add the rinsed quinoa, and top with the hot salted water. Bring to the boil, and let the quinoa uncovered simmer until all the water has disappeared. Straight away take to pot of the heat and cover. For 5 minutes. After 5 minutes take off the lid, and fluff up the quinoa with a fork. Set aside.
- Heat a frying pan to medium/high and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the slices of courgette to the pan, and sprinkle with zaatar. When the courgettes are starting to cook and brown, turn them over and brown the other sides. Depending on the size of your pan you might have to do this in two batches. Set aside all the pan fried courgette slices.
- In a bowl mix the quinoa with the chopped spring onions, courgette slices, and the lemon juice. Mix well, and set aside.
- Meanwhile put the two pepper halves on a baking tray. Bake them for approx. 20 minutes, until the pepper just start softening.
- After 20 minutes, take them out, and fill the pepper with the quinoa / courgette mixture and return into the oven for another 10 minutes.
- Decorate with the slices of radish (or herbs, or nuts) and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Stuffed peppers are part of my series; 'Travels of taste'. Using our taste buds to travel the world and discover the use of our senses and imaginations to meet other cultures through food. If you are ready to imagine yourself travelling around the Mediterranean with hot summers and tasting its incredible variety of fresh food. Check out my full Mediterranean 'travels of taste' post; >>> The Med; Olive oil, herbs & fresh produce.
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