Heading into this cold weather has me dreaming of stuffed peppers on the island of Naxos, Greece. Since I can’t get there right now, my next best option is to bring it here! It takes a little prep, but makes a nice big batch for several dinners, side dish or makes for a yummy lunch reheated.
Ingredients
8-10 large red or yellow peppers
15 tbsp uncooked arborio rice
1 onion, quartered
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small potato, grated
3 zucchini, grated
1 green pepper, diced
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp dry mint
4 tbsp fresh parsley
1 400 ml can whole tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
1 tsp herbes salées (or alternately, double salt below)
1 tbsp sea salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400*F
Wash the peppers and dry them. Cut around the stem, emptying the inside. Do not discard the tops.
Place the red peppers in a baking dish.
Grate the zucchini and potato and place in a bowl.
Mince green pepper and place in bowl with zucchini and potato.
In a food processor place onion, garlic cloves, 1 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Pulse, making sure it does not turn into a paste. Add to zucchini mixture.
Take the drained tomatoes, and with your hands, squeeze the juice from the tomatoes. In a bowl, chop the strained tomatoes and add that to bowl.
To the bowl, add 1 tbsp salt, , pepper, oregano, mint, parsley, rice, feta cheese, herbes salées, lemon juice, tomato paste, and olive oil. Mix well.
Fill the peppers with rice mixture to the top. Place the pepper caps on top of each pepper.
Add 3/4-1 cup water to bottom of pan.
Bake at 400*F for 30 minutes, then reduce to 350* and bake for another 1.5 hours, uncovered. If the pan runs dry at the bottom simply add another 1/4 cup of water.
Note*
To check for doneness, rice should be soft. It’s acceptable (and delicious!) if the peppers blacken a bit.
Make like a Greek and serve these gourmet peppers with a beautiful, crisp white wine. Then imagine a cerulean blue sea against stark white houses and winding village laneways. Soon enough we may be there in person once again, but this is a nice interlude in the meantime!
Bon Appetit!
