This dish should be about the peppers, not the presentation.
There wasn’t a vegetable recipe I hated more than stuffed bell peppers.
The typical recipe is a multi-step affair that starts with browning ground beef, making rice, maybe a separate tomato sauce. Then you get around to the peppers, all of which need to be perfectly shaped to hold this not-so-exciting filling.
Stuffed peppers are all about the presentation, and I am all about taste. Making a recipe to look pretty and appease the food photographer gods is not my method of operation.
And then to top things off, I can’t grow a pepper that looks like the ones in the grocery store.
I love to grow peppers. I eat them. The family eats them. They grow so well in my climate.
But in a real garden, not a hot-house, the peppers I grow can be small and twisted. I get sunburn spots on the top shoulder. In an entire season, I might get one or two peppers that look like the recipe blogs.
I want stuffed peppers that taste good and are easy to make and don’t have to look a particular way to be considered proper.
I want the peppers to be the star of the show.
In the past, I had provided stuffed pepper recipes in farm boxes that I never made because I thought that was what people wanted.
All of the pretty recipes out in the world had closed my mind to the idea that stuffed peppers could be great tasting peppers first.
Until Now…
Recently reading David Tannis’ book, Market Cooking, I came to realize two things. First, peppers don’t have to be stuffed with meat and rice. And second, stuffed peppers can be simple. We can sit back and let the pepper shine.
He actually calls for “very small sweet peppers” in his recipe, and I actually have “very small” peppers. I can stuff little peppers with a bit of filling and make an easy vegetable side dish.
The Filling
You can stuff peppers with anything.
I have always thought that stuffed peppers are a way to reinvent leftovers. Traditionally, foods with filling, think ravioli, or eggrolls, were created to use leftover cooked meat or vegetables. You don’t want to spend additional time cooking all of the filling ingredients solely to become the filling for peppers.
It is easier if you cook a meal on one night that gives you leftovers, and then you fill the peppers with the leftovers (maybe chopping up everything first), then you are only reheating leftovers inside sweet and attractive pepper shells.
You can also keep the filling simple, adding merely one or two ingredients. Cheese and peppers are a classic combination, just like chile rellenos.
In David’s recipe, he fills the peppers with feta cheese and tops them with seasoned breadcrumbs.
I can also now imagine simple vegan combinations of ground nuts, tofu, cooked whole grains, or cooked vegetables.
The Pepper Stuffing Procedure
When using small peppers, slice them in half through the stem. Make sure to leave the stem in the pepper; otherwise, the filling will fall out. Once cooked, the stem will slip off and shouldn’t be eaten.
If you have any peppers with thin sunburn spots, just cut off the bad parts and keep the remaining cavity to fill with your stuffing.
Pull out any seeds and the thin membrane along the wall of the pepper.
Fill the peppers with any cooked leftovers or cheese and toasted breadcrumbs or vegetable filling that you choose.
Bake at 375 °F until the filling is heated through to 165 °F, about 30 minutes.
Sub-recipes you might need.
To make your own breadcrumbs, blend old bread in a food processor for 1-2 minutes, until soft crumbs form. Toast in a 325 °F oven until golden brown about 15 minutes. Season the breadcrumbs with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and fresh chopped or dried herbs.
I thought this filling would be perfect for peppers too. This combination is from a stuffed collard green recipe from dishingupthedirt.com
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (if canned, rinsed, and drained)
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 1 small avocado, diced
Blend the chickpeas and walnuts in a food processor. Add the soy sauce, carrots, and cabbage, pulse once or twice to combine. Fill the peppers with the filling and then bake. Top with the avocado after cooking.
Stuffed Peppers Reimagined
I can’t believe that a small bit of inspiration could lead to me finally making my first stuffed pepper.
Stuffed peppers don’t have to fit the mold of the internet food blogger. They can be simple, practical, taste good, and show off the pepper. Let the filling take the back seat.
Try creating your own stuffed pepper recipe and let the pepper shine.