Stuffed Peppers

I'm not quite sure which came first in my mind, the stuffed peppers or the Ottolenghi Fennel gratin, but they seemed to be compatible, so that's what we had.

I have tried making stuffed peppers in the past - a long, long, time ago, so long in fact that it could well have been in another life.  These attempts weren't terribly successful, as they involved a Bolognese-type mince mixture stuffing which turned out to be quite one-dimensional.  I'd since given the idea up as lost, however just recently the germ of an idea had been growing in my mind.  This time, I'd go for a relatively dry stuffing mixture - one involving rice, still with beef mince however this time mince which had been caramelised to promote that lovely beefy flavour.  Beyond that, I ran out of definite ideas.  All I had was an impression of how I wanted the flavours to be.

So, I reached for my computer keyboard and consulted t'internet.  Various stuffing mixes floated past, each one had its merits but wasn't the one I was looking for.  I liked the goat's cheese versions, but that didn't help with my desire to include beef.  Then, I lit upon a recipe for stuffed butternut squash - which didn't include beef but sounded so wacky, it had definite potential.  So thankyou, Foodista, for the original idea - here's what it turned into.

I recommend you do all the chopping and vegetable preparation before you get cooking, as everything happens fairly quickly.  Oh, and many apologies - like the Ottolenghi Fennel dish, we were too keen to get tucked in and completely forgot to take a photograph.  Next time!

STUFFED PEPPERS (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :

3-4 big fat red or yellow peppers, top removed and bottom levelled

400g beef mince

2 celery stalks, chopped fine

1 medium leek, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 mushrooms, diced

2 cups cooked white rice

2 cups crisp breadcrumbs

handful of raisins or cherries or cranberries

1-2  tsp Worcester sauce

1 full to heaped tsp dried sage

olive oil

 Method :

1. Pre-heat the oven at 190deg C.

2. Put the mince on to brown in a deep frying pan, using a teaspoon of vegetable oil, to prevent sticking.

3. Meanwhile, rub some olive oil inside and out of the peppers, season and place in a roasting dish.  Bake for as long as it takes to prepare the stuffing mix.

4. Sauté celery and leek until soft.

5. Add garlic and mushrooms and continue cooking for some 5 minutes.

6. Add rice, breadcrumbs, raisins, Worcester sauce and sage and mix to combine.

7. Stuff and bake for 30 mins turning once or twice to ensure even baking.