Sweet peppers baked in tomato sauce with a herby rice filling.
Serves 4 | Preparation: 25 minutes | Cooking: 60 minutes | Total: 85 minutes
Times include any chilling, resting or cooling stated below. Oven temperatures are conventional; reduce by 20°C for a fan oven.
Ingredients
4 large bell peppers
200 g long-grain rice
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
400 g passata or crushed tomatoes
100 g grated cheese (kashkaval, cheddar or similar)
3 tbsp chopped parsley and dill
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
Method
Cook the rice in salted water until just tender, about 12 minutes, then drain.
Soften the onion in 2 tbsp oil, add the garlic and paprika and cook briefly. Mix with the rice, half the cheese, the herbs and a little passata.
Heat the oven to 190°C. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Fill with the rice mixture.
Spread the remaining passata in a baking dish, stand the peppers in it, replace the tops, drizzle with oil and cover with foil.
Bake covered, then uncover, scatter with the remaining cheese and bake until golden and the peppers are soft, about 45 minutes in total.
Variations and substitutions
Late-season green or yellow peppers work well. Add a spoon of yoghurt on top to serve.
For a vegetarian dish, choose cheese labelled suitable for vegetarians and check any other packaged ingredients.
Use vegetarian Cheddar or a labelled vegetarian kashkaval-style cheese. Replace half the cooked rice with cooked lentils for variety.
Homegrown and seasonal produce
Use sturdy homegrown peppers that stand upright; halve them lengthways if they are narrow. Frozen summer tomatoes can replace passata once cooked down.
Storage and freezing
Cool rice dishes as quickly as possible, ideally within 1 hour, then refrigerate at 5°C or below and eat within 24 hours. Freeze promptly in small portions for up to 1 month. Defrost in the fridge and reheat once until steaming hot throughout; eat immediately.
Explore our growing guides and From Garden to Kitchen guide. Plan your next harvest with Your Growing Companion.
Stock photograph illustrating the ingredients or a serving idea.
