Stuffed Peppers

INGREDIENTS:
For 6 servings
-
6 peppers (capsicums), variety of colours, but mainly red
Filling Ingredients:
-
120g white, medium-grain rice
-
1.5 tins (400g tin) of peeled/chopped tomatoes
-
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
-
12 Kalamata olives, de-stoned and chopped
-
1/4 cup raisins, chopped
-
1/4 cup pine nuts (or sliced almonds)
-
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-
1 red onion, finely diced
-
2 large garlic cloves, minced
-
1 tsp salt
-
generous amount of pepper
-
1 tsp sugar
-
0.5-1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
Sauce:
-
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-
1/2 tin (400g tin) of peeled/chopped tomatoes
-
1 tbsp tomato paste
-
1/4 cup water
-
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
-
Preheat oven to 180 degrees (C) fan-force.
-
Choose a casserole dish (or a dutch oven) that will fit 6 peppers. Add your ingredients for the sauce to the casserole dish (or dutch oven) and whisk to combine.
-
Next prepare your peppers. Wash the peppers and cut 1-2cm of the heads off the top (keep the tops). De-seed the peppers and arrange them in the casserole dish so that they have a cosy fit. If you do not have enough peppers to fill the dish, make sure you pick peppers that are stable as you do not want them to fall over/collapse during the baking. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar inside the bottom of the peppers.
-
In a medium size bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients together (OPTIONAL: sauté your onion and garlic before you incorporate them into the filling - to enhance their flavour).
-
Once the mixture is combined, spoon the filling into the peppers, but be sure not to overfill - the mixture should be roughly level with the cut so that there is room for expansion under the tops (the rice will expand). Put the tops on once filling.
-
Cover the dish with foil and place in the oven for 90 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the foil so that the tops get a chance to brown nicely.
-
Serve with optional sides!