STUFFED PEPPERS 2 WAYS!!
I made this for dinner tonight and had to make a vegetarian version and a meat version to satisfy everyone. It was easy enough as I used the same base initially and then split it into 1/3 and 2/3rds and added extra ingredients. I also made some dairy free and added some Mozzarella to others. So it really is a very easy dish to cater for different dietary requirements.
COMMON INGREDIENTS FOR BOTH TYPES OF PEPPERS:
- Coconut Oil – approx 1 dessertspoon
- 3 small Onions – finely diced
- 2 sticks of Celery – finely diced
- 5 cloves of Garlic – crushed
- 1 large Carrot – peeled and grated
- 1 Courgette – finely diced
- 6 large Sweet peppers – tops cut off and seeds taken out. (Be careful not to break open the peppers when cleaning out the seeds)
- Tops of Peppers cut into small pieces
- 50g Pine Nuts – lightly toasted
- Cooked Rice – I used a combination of Basmati and Wild Rice
- 2 teaspoons of dried Oregano
- 2 teaspoons of Vegetable Stock Powder
- Ground Black pepper
- Tomato Sauce – the type suitable for pasta (I used the tomato sauce I had made last year and frozen)
Heat the Coconut Oil in a large frypan (which has a lid) and saute the diced Onion and Celery until the Onion is transparent.
Add the Garlic, Carrot, Courgette and the tops of the Peppers and saute until softened.
Add the dried Oregano, Black Pepper, Toasted Pine Nuts and Vegetable Stock Powder and stir through.
If making both types divide mixture into the proportions you need to make each type.
VEGETABLE FILLING:
- 2 Tomatoes, chopped
- 6 Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
- 1 packet of Buffalo Mozzarella – chopped into pieces
Add the Tomatoes and Sundried Tomatoes to the above cooked Vegetable mixture.
Add a couple of spoonfuls of the cooked Rice and mix thoroughly.
Place pieces of the Mozzarella Cheese into the Peppers and top with the Rice and Vegetable mixture. Place some Mozzarella Cheese on top, and spoon the Tomato Sauce around the bottom of the Peppers.
MEAT FILLING:
- 500 g of Organic Minced Beef
- 1/4 cup of water
Add the Organic Minced Beef and the water to the above cooked Vegetable Mixture, break up and stir around until it is cooked.
Add a couple of spoonfuls of cooked Rice and mix thoroughly.
Fill the Peppers with the cooked Meat and Rice mixture. (You could also add some Mozzarella pieces if you wanted)
Spoon the Tomato Sauce around the bottom of the Peppers.
Cook both Peppers in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned and the Peppers are cooked through.
I served them with some steamed Tenderstem Broccoli.
