Summer Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a favorite standby at Scrumptious Street and I started making them when I was a child.  When I was learning to cook, it was one of the easiest and most satisfying things for me to prepare.  The peppers are something simple to pull together but with enough key steps that you're still cooking.  When I first started making stuffed peppers, I pretty much mimicked my Mother's recipe, which included a tomato-based rice, ground beef and kidney bean stuffing in green Bell peppers and baked.  Since then, I've made her classic preparation many times but I also love experimenting and creating new fillings and using different peppers.   This variation was a result of my desire for a lighter, summery filling and a vision of gorgeous colors.  Here is my own "Summer Stuffed Peppers".

The result was light, flavorful, slightly tangy and wholesome.  It's a very healthy dish and can be easily varied with different vegetables and aromatics.  I used french Flageolet beans for the first time in this and absolutely loved them! They are so delicate yet more intensely flavored than fava, kidney or even cannellini beans.  They taste much more like a bean (I smelled a garden in them) than the mushy paste that other canned beans can have. Give them a try if you can! The orange sweet bell pepper is also nice, it has a less astringent flavor and more juicy sweetness than a green pepper.  And using my own tomatoes and herbs for this was simply wonderful! The patio garden has produced so much pleasure and many delicious meals this summer!

Ingredients
Serves 2 as side dish or appetizer

2 whole orange sweet Bell Peppers, washed, halved and seeds and pith scooped out
1/4 lb. fresh yellow wax beans
1/2 c. tubettini or small macaroni pasta
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
14 oz can french Flageolet beans or get fresh ones if you can!
2 hot long Italian chili peppers in oil
7 oz jar of good tuna in olive oil (go with jarred, not canned)
4 artichoke hearts marinated in oil, chopped
6 fresh small cherry-sized heirloom tomatoes (yes, from my plant!)
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh lemon thyme, chopped
1/2 tsp. fresh chives, chopped
4 T. marinade/oil from the artichoke hearts
1/4 tsp. freshly ground white pepper
juice 1/2 fresh lemon, squeezed

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stovetop and add the kosher salt.  Toss in the orange peppers, yellow wax beans and tubettini pasta and blanch for about 3 minutes, until the peppers and wax beans just begin to go slightly tender.  Do not let the skin begin to peel off.  Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl.  Remove from the water and drain the wax beans, peppers and pasta.  Set the peppers aside to cool naturally.  Plunge the pasta and the yellow wax beans into the ice bath.  Drain and  cool completely. 

2. In the large bowl, add all the remaining ingredients to the wax beans and tubettini pasta.  Toss together and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.  The flavors in this dish are subtle and natural, not overpowering.  Make sure to taste and adjust to your palate as you go.

3. Place the orange peppers cut-side up in a 9x9" baking pan.  Spoon the filling into the peppers until full.  Spoon any extra filling along the sides of the peppers in the pan.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. 

4. Remove the aluminum foil, drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil on top of the peppers and bake another 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Comments

[Sophie]

This sounds really tasty - I like the idea of the tuna, thyme beans and tubetti in particular. Quite different from your run-of-the mill pepper stuffing!

[Stephanie Beack]

Sophie, welcome to Scrumptious Street! Glad you like what you see and read here. I thought it was a great result, different without being bizarre and definitely yummy! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

[Helena]

Thought they were great, am trying them out for my gcse work :)

[Stephanie Beack]

Helena, glad you liked the peppers! They're so light yet delicious. Good luck on your GCSE!