Sweet treats always get the spotlight around this time of year, so why not surprise guests and appeal to their savoury side with these delicious stuffed peppers in the shape of carved pumpkins?
They’re totally on trend and fa-boo-lous!
What you choose to stuff the peppers with is completely up to you, however we’ve popped some ideas here for inspiration.
This recipe, courtesy of Cath Kidston (www.cathkidston.com), serves six, so use this as a guideline for your party size.
Stuffed pumpkin peppers
(Serves 6)
Ingredients
- 6 x bell peppers (any colour is fine, but obviously orange most resembles a pumpkin!)
- 250g quinoa
- 200g black beans
- 150g sweetcorn
- 100g salsa
- 1.5 teaspoons of taco seasoning
- 150g vegan cheese
Method
- First, we need to make sure that our bell peppers look like little pumpkins, so grab a knife and get carving. The knife should be small and first used to cut off the top of the pepper in a zig-zag shape (and then put to one side, as this will be your lid), and then to remove the pith and the seeds.
- Once that’s ticked off, carefully carve facial features into the outer layer of the pepper. Feel free to get as creative as you want here, but typically the peppers should have triangles for the eyes and an upside-down triangle for the mouth.
- Your peppers need to be soft and tender, which is why the next step involves popping them into the oven to be steamed.
- Place the peppers on a baking dish (so they’re sitting on their bottoms) and pour one quarter cup of water into the base of the dish. Cover with foil, poke some holes in the top to allow for some breathing space, and then bake for 30 minutes at 200C/180 Fan/400F/Gas Mark 6.
- As your peppers relax and unwind while getting the sauna treatment, you have time to make your filling. As stated above, you can experiment here should you wish to. We would opt for combining the quinoa with water and bring to the boil. While that’s happening, mix the black beans, corn, seasoning, salsa and vegan cheese. Add the quinoa to the same bowl once that’s cooked.
- Once the peppers steamed and your filling is mixed well, evenly split the mixture across the six peppers. Feel free to add some more of your favourite vegan cheese to the top of the peppers. Once each has been sufficiently stuffed, put the zig-zag lids back on top.
- To finish off this recipe, put the uncovered peppers back inside the oven for another 10 minutes. This baking time will warm the filling and melt the cheese, making them delicious, gooey and eerie-sistable. Your guests will love them!
For more recipes from Cath Kidston, check out the company’s lifestyle blog. And delve into the midweek meal archives.
