We’ve seen stuffed peppers before but this is a new recipe I tried. It’s a different kind of stuffed pepper in that it’s not stuffed with rice and mince. This time the peppers are stuffed with anchovies and breadcrumbs. Instead of the anchovies being overpowering (not that I would mind anyhow), the taste is subtle. The breadcrumbs seem to absorb the anchovies leaving a lovely medley of flavours.
This is another recipe that I made when my mum was visiting in London from Australia. We had never had it before but I thought I would try it. We cooked the peppers in the frying pan with a lid on it. But I think next time I will bake the peppers instead as I personally think the peppers cook better that way. I would first bake the unstuffed peppers sprinkled inside and outside with some oil in the oven at 180oC for about 15 minutes. Once stuffed I would bake them in the oven for about 30 -45minutes until soft. When they were cooked in the frying pan they still tasted great!
My parents used to grow peppers when I was younger and I have to admit that I was never a big fan of green peppers except in stir frys. I prefer the red and yellow peppers more. I wish I knew about this recipe back then as green peppers are perfect for this recipe.
- 4 green peppers tops taken off (left aside) and seeds removed (or you can cut them horizontally and remove the seeds)
- 2 95 gram jars of anchovies chopped (about 115 grams drained anchovies)
- 1 cup of breadcrumbs
- 1 bunch of large parsley chopped (you can also use mint instead)
- A handful of capers
- 12 pitted kalamata olives chopped
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves finely diced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Fry the onion and garlic in a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil for five minutes.
- Fry the tomato paste for a minute and then add in the tomatoes.
- Turn the heat off and mix in all the other ingredients.
- Add two tablespoons of oil and mix further.
- Season the mixture with salt and pepper. You should hardly need to use any salt as the anchovies are already salty.
- Fill each pepper with the stuffing.
- Fry each pepper until they are lightly browned and then simmer in a frying pan with the lids on.
- If using the whole pepper (not cutting them horizontally) make sure to also fry the tops slightly. Add the tops on when you go to simmer the peppers.
- Simmer the peppers for about an hour until the peppers are tender.
- If you prefer to bake the peppers firstly then lightly sprinkle inside and outside.
- Place the unfilled peppers in a preheated oven at 180oC for about 15 minutes.
- Fill the peppers with the mixture and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes.