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–+ servings

Lamb Stuffed Sweet Peppers

Lamb Peppers
I was inspired by the flavours of lamb kofta when creating this recipe for stuffed sweet peppers or capsicum. The long peppers are the perfect vehicle for stuffing as they stay put on the roasting pan. It’s fairly obvious why they are known as bull horn peppers! My stuffing combines pantry staples and fresh ingredients that channel middle eastern flavours. Meat stuffed capsicums are certainly comfort food but I have kept it on the lighter side of comfort, with a topping of a fresh salad of mint, chili, preserved lemon and feta cheese. It is a bit of a challenge to get just enough stuffing for the number of peppers you are using but the stuffing freezes well for future use and variations on the theme. Lamb rissoles anyone?
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Large sheet pan or roasting pan
  • Baking paper
  • Small non stick baking tray / cake pan
  • Colander
  • Measuring cups & spoons
  • mixing bowls

Ingredients  

Stuffed peppers ingredients:

  • 8 long sweet red peppers
  • 1/2 cup pearl couscous
  • 500 g lamb minced
  • 1 large brown onion diced
  • 2 large cloves garlic crushed
  • 3 large vine ripened tomatoes
  • 5-6 baby zucchini
  • 2 chilies long red
  • ½ cup pine nuts
  • 100-150 g feta cheese
  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 tablespoon grapeseed oil
  • Salt & pepper

Salsa & yoghurt sauce ingredients:

  • 100-150 g feta cheese
  • 1 fresh mint small bunch
  • 1 preserved lemon large
  • 1 chili long red
  • 1 cup Greek yoghurt full fat
  • Olive oil Extra virgin

Instructions 

Stuffed peppers:

  • Preheat oven to 180°C fan forced
  • Cook the pearl couscous in boiling well salted water until tender (al dente like pasta), drain in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
  • Toast pine nuts on small baking tray in oven for 5-10 minutes until they start to turn golden, shake the tray several times.
  • Prepare peppers by using a small paring knife to cut out lids from one side of each pepper, remove the seeds & membrane, reserve the “lids”
  • Increase oven 220°C fan forced
  • Heat non-stick medium sized frying pan on med-high heat & add oil.
  • Brown minced lamb, turning once it starts to caramelise
  • Add chopped onions, peppers, chilies, crushed garlic, coriander, and cumin
  • Cook while stirring occasionally until the vegetables begin to soften.
  • Taste and adjust seasoning with salt & pepper.
  • Transfer to a bowl
  • If preparing the stuffing in advance, cool the meat mixture. Otherwise, continue with the stuffing.
  • Add and combine the remaining stuffing ingredient gently including, couscous, fresh tomato, zucchini, pine nuts and feta cheese.
  • Stuff the prepared peppers, pressing the stuffing in quite firmly, and finish with a rounded top.
  • Roast on a baking paper lined tray 20-25 minutes.
  • The lamb is already cooked through, so you want the peppers holding their shape but see a few charred bits starting to develop.
  • Keep warm until ready to serve.

Fresh Salsa:

  • Rinse the preserved lemon under cold water, remove the lemon segments (you just want the peel)
  • Dice the preserved lemon peel
  • Slice chili in half lengthwise, remove seeds & membrane (use disposable gloves)
  • Finely dice chili
  • Pick mint leaves from stems & roughly chop
  • Crumble feta
  • Combine Salsa in bowl and set aside.
  • Whisk Greek yoghurt & serve in a shallow dish drizzled with olive oil
  • Top with fresh salsa & serve immediately, with yoghurt on the side.

Just before you cook with abandon…

Leftover stuffing. It is impossible to predict the exact volume per pepper needed in this recipe. Any leftover stuffing can be frozen & turned into a quick meal. Topped with cheese and into the oven, toasties etc.
Freezing. If you would like to prepare & freeze this dish, it can be frozen before or after baking the stuffed peppers. Don’t prepare the salsa until the day you plan to serve the peppers.
Swapping in ingredients. It is perfectly fine to use stock standard red capsicum. If you can’t find pearl couscous, rice would work fine. I prefer lamb as it is in keeping with the Kofta vibe, but beef would work fine. Feel free to add other vegetables that are lurking in the fridge, like carrots or eggplant.
Oven temperature. Yes, 220°C fan forced is a fairly hot oven but you want these peppers to roast and get a nice few bits of char developing. What you don’t want is the peppers just sitting in your oven sweating!