This is a fun and healthy take on an old classic. It is such a hearty dish that always offers a beautiful pop of colour when you add it to your plate. Eating colourful food means more nutrients and health. You can get creative and try it with different spices and serve them as the main affair or as a side. It’s also a great do-ahead dish so you can grab a stuffed pepper when on the run.
Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
4 medium red or yellow peppers, tops cut off and saved for later, and seeds removed
Dressing
1 cup plain Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt
juice of 1 lemon
12 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons maple syrup or 2 teaspoons unrefined brown sugar
80 g goats milk cheese
salt and pepper
Filling
1½ cups spelt, cooked
1 cup vegetable stock
2 teaspoons coconut oil
2 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
4 medium-sized courgettes, grated
2 teaspoons caper berries
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
olive oil
1 handful fresh coriander or parsley leaves, chopped
Instructions:
Prepare the peppers and set aside. You want to keep them intact as you will be filling them later.
For the dressing, mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl until combined. Season to taste and set aside.
For the filling, cook the spelt as per the packet instructions, adding the vegetable stock to the water that you use to do so. Once ready, set aside.
Heat the coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic, turmeric and cayenne pepper and sauté for a further 5 minutes, stirring often. If it dries out, add a splash of water to help it along. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Once the tomatoes have cooked down, remove the pan from the heat and add the courgettes, caper berries, nutritional yeast and spelt and fold through.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Using a spoon, fill the peppers to the top with the tomato and spelt mixture. Drizzle with a little olive oil, making sure the sides get some oil too. Use your hands if need be. Pop the peppers onto a roasting tray and roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Change the setting to grill and grill them for an additional 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they don’t burn.
Serve with a big dollop of dressing, and a drizzle of olive oil, and top with the coriander or parsley
-Melissa