Stuffed Green Capsicum

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In my kitchen: stuffed green capsicum

In my kitchen: stuffed green capsicum

I occasionally make this dish for dinner parties 'cause it's delicious and pretty. I also bust it out when little people are coming over because kids love them! But mostly I use it when I have leftover rice or lentils.

Ingredients

  • 4 green capsicum (yes I know there are only 3 in the pics, that's all I had in the fridge!)

Stuffing

  • 3 cups cooked rice. I have used black rice in this recipe to give it a nutrient and fibre boost, and to make it look prettier! How much rice you use is really up to you, as any excess that doesn't fit into the capsicums is mixed into the sauce anyway. 
  • 3 cups cooked lentils. Again, the amount doesn't matter too much.
  • One large onion (or two small), diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large zucchini, grated. You can actually add more zucchini to this dish, plus any other veggies you want to use. Just make sure you grate or finely dice them so they cook!
  • 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Sauce

  • Leftover stuffing mixture
  • 500ml tomato passata

Method

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

To prepare the capsicum:

  • Wash capsicum and cut a circle into the top
  • Gently remove top.
  • Cut seeds away from top and remove from inside of capsicum. Trim stem if it's ugly.

Stuffing*

  • Combine rice, lentils, diced onion, minced garlic. grated zucchini and olive oil in a bowl and mix together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Spoon mixture into each capsicum and pat down. 
  • Place capsicum "lid" back on top.

The sauce

  • Combine leftover stuffing mixture that did not fit in capsicums with 500ml tomato passata. 
  • The sauce will evaporate during cooking so add more of you need a "wetter" sauce.

Assembling the dish

  • Place all sauce in the base of a baking dish.
  • Place stuffed capsicums on top

Cooking

  • Reduce oven heat to 150 degrees and cook for 1 hour. You can cook these faster on a higher heat but they are much nicer with a longer cooking time.
  • If you do want a faster cooking time I recommend you sauté the onion and garlic before stuffing the capsicum.
  • If the tops of the capsicums start to burn, cover with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.

Serve and enjoy!

* Full disclosure: my husband puts tomato passata through the stuffing as well as the sauce and claims it tastes much better that way. So why not try one my way and one his way and let me know which one you like best!!