If, like me, you love the smoky flavours that you get in a fajita or burrito, you're sure to love these spicy stuffed peppers. The filling makes a delicious meal in its own right, bursting with smoky spices, slow cooked, caramelised onions, juicy black beans and fresh parsley, but when combined with a sweet, roasted pepper it becomes even more heavenly. Vegetarians will LOVE these, as the stuffed pepper is elevated to a whole new level, and any meat-eaters will be very pleasantly surprised when served this dish (I get regular requests to make these from my very carnivorous other half!). If there are any leftover, they even taste great cold the next day too!
Makes 8-10 stuffed peppers
Ingredients
8 large peppers, mixed colours (or 10 medium stuffed peppers)
1-2 tbsp olive oil
200g basmati rice
1 vegetable stock cube (if you're not veggie use a chicken stock cube)
Boiling water
2 red onions, peeled and finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large vine tomatoes, diced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chilli cayenne pepper (or 1tsp cayenne and 1 tsp chilli powder)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
460g black beans (drained weight)
200g halloumi, cut into 1cm cubes
Large handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
To serve
1/2 avocado per person
Sour cream
Cheddar cheese
Lime wedges
Directions
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Cut the tops off the peppers, approximately 2cm from the top.
Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and white pith from the inside of the peppers.
Place the bottoms and lids of the peppers into a tray.
Drizzle over 1-2 tbsp of olive oil and season well with sea salt and black pepper.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool slightly (the peppers should have softened a little, but should retain their shape).
Place the rice into a saucepan, crumble over the stock cube and pour over boiling water enough so that there is 1cm depth above the top of the rice, give it a stir to ensure that the stock cube dissolves.
Place the lid on the pan (important) and place onto a low to medium heat to boil gently for 20 minutes (turn down a little if the lid starts to rattle).
After 20 minutes, the rice should have absorbed all of the stock and should be perfectly cooked (cook for 2-3 minutes more if necessary).
Set aside until ready to use.
Whilst the rice is cooking, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large, heavy based pan.
Add the diced onions and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring every now and again (you want the onions to caramelise and turn a lovely golden brown colour, so don't be tempted to cook too quickly, turn the heat down a little if they brown too quickly).
When the onions have browned, add the cumin, chilli cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic powder and celery salt and cook for 1 minute.
Add the garlic and fry gently for 30 seconds more.
Add the diced tomatoes and fry for 2 minutes more, giving the pan a good scrape to get all of the flavour from the bottom of the pan.
Add the cubed halloumi and black beans to the pan and cook for a 2 further minutes.
Finally, fold in the chopped parsley.
*You can just serve this, as is, alongside the rice (and completely forget the peppers!) - it makes a delicious meal in its own right; serve with a squeeze of lime over the top alongside some avocado, sour cream and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.
To assemble the peppers
Fold the rice into the spicy mixture, mix well to ensure an even distribution.
Spoon the mixture into the partially cooked peppers, make sure that you stuff in as much of the mixture as possible so that the peppers are stuffed with a little mound of the stuffing at the top and then place the lids on top. Try to arrange the peppers so they stay stood up, but aren't crammed together.
Cover the tray with tin foil and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove the foil and then cook for a further 10 minutes (the peppers should be cooked and nicely roasted).
To serve
Remove the lids from the peppers and squeeze over a little lime juice.
Dollop over a spoonful of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese and then replace the lid.
Serve with slices of avocado and a fresh green salad.
Enjoy x