I almost took the lazy way out for dinner tonight and picked up a rotisserie chicken at the market. However, I had a hunger for stuffed peppers and an herb garden bursting with fresh mint. What to do?
I found a recipe that fit the bill and modified it to our eating preferences. Lots of healthy macro-nutrients and bursting with flavor. Never would have considered putting a handful of mint in stuffed peppers, but it worked.
Mint, garlic, raisins, dried apricots, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, Aleppo pepper, the list goes on.
This could be made with just about any ground meat; beef, lamb, pork, turkey or even a combination of them. I happened to use ground turkey breast. As such, I had to add more olive oil to fatten it up. Next time I will probably use ground turkey (white and dark meat) or maybe a combination of beef and pork.
I like to cut the peppers in half length-wise and lay them on their sides. They seem easier to fill and to eat. You could also cut the tops off and stand them up on end.
Aleppo peppers are a recent find for me. They are from Turkey, have about half the heat of red pepper flakes and have a wonderfully mild heat. If you can’t find them in your local market, they are available on Amazon.
- 2 bell peppers red, green, or yellow
- 1 pound ground meat beef, lamb, turkey
- 1 tbsp olive oil or more as needed
- 1 small onion diced finely
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoons organic ground cumin
- 1 tablespoons ground oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 cup roasted cashews chopped
- 1/2 cup dried raisins or currants
- 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon Aleppo pepper
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- Salt
- fresh ground pepper
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut the peppers in half length-wise and lay them on their sides in a baking dish. Four halves fit nicely into an 8x8 glass dish.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil over moderate heat.
- Add the ground meat, breaking it up. Brown the meat, stirring well until cooked through. and set it aside.
- Pour off the accumulated fat, and discard
- In the same skillet, heat another Tablespoon of oil, and saute the onions and garlic.
- Season liberally with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the onions become translucent.
- Add the coriander, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and allspice; stir well, and cook not quite a minute, just until the fragrance blooms.
- Add the chopped cashews, dried fruits, and 1/4 cup of the mint.
- Cook about 5 more minutes, until very fragrant.
- Add the browned meat back to the pan and heat until warm and well combined.
- Add mint, lemon juice and Aleppo pepper, and taste for seasoning.
- Divide the mixture among the 4 pepper halves, pressing down on the stuffing to pack it well.
- Pour about half of the tomato sauce over the stuffed peppers.
- Add 1/2 cup water to the remaining tomato sauce, and pour that into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake, uncovered, about 45 minutes.
- While the peppers cook, if the pan seems to be drying out, simply add a little more water to the bottom.
- Serve immediately drizzling with olive oil and lemon juice, and garnish with more fresh mint leaves.
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