Umbria Summer Goodness: Recipe for Stuffed Peppers

Bell peppers won’t be in the Umbria vegetable gardens for much longer.  With a few we have now, I decided to make “meatless” stuffed peppers.  Here’s an easy recipe for

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers:  Umbria Goodness

Ingredients (for four):

4 red and/or yellow bell peppers

1 eggplant

2 medium-sized ripe tomatoes (Piccadilly variety, if possible, as skin blends with pulp – excellent for sauces)

fresh ricotta – 2 c

pine nuts, a handful

capers (if possible, Sicilian ones in salt), 2 – 3T

oregano, fresh – small bunch (ideal if variety from mountains of southern Italy or Greece)

1 garlic clove

anchovies packed in oil, 4

Extra virgin olive oil, q.b. (“quanto basta” or “as much as you need”)

pecorino (sheep’s milk) cheese, q. b. (or romano cheese)

salt, q.b.

pepper, q. b.

breadcrumbs,  1/2 c. to 1 c.

Parmesan, q. b.

Wash all vegetables.  Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Slice top off peppers and remove their seeds and pulp.

Cut eggplant into small pieces and then cover with salt.  Let eggplants sit about twenty minutes to take out the bitterness, then rinse in cold water.

Bring small saucepan of water to a boil and drop in the tomatoes for just a few seconds and then drain.  When cool, take off the skins and then dice the tomatoes:

Dice garlic clove and simmer until golden in olive oil, then add eggplant:

Add tomatoes and simmer for  few minutes and then add capers and anchovies: 

Cream ricotta and then add fresh oregano, pine nuts and pecorino cheese.  Add pepper to taste.

Mix eggplant/tomato/caper/anchovy mixture into ricotta/pecorino/Parmesan blend:

Stuff peppers with this mixture.  Cover baking dish with a drizzle of olive oil.  Place peppers in the baking dish which should be just large enough to hold peppers snugly.  

Top the peppers with their “lids” (using toothpicks to fasten the tops).  Sprinkle tops of peppers with Parmesan.

Bake in hot oven about one hour but do check on cooking after about forty-five minutes:  cooking time will depend on size of peppers. 

Serve hot. Buon appetito!