I’m not entirely sure where stuffed peppers originate from, but from googling the question it appears it is traditionally a Spanish dish. Food that originates from the Mediterranean is always colourful, flavoursome and good for you (at least that’s the idea I conjure up when I think of Mediterranean food), and this Couscous & Feta Stuffed Peppers recipe is inspired by those principles. Turkish food also falls into this category; it looks good, is made using healthy ingredients and always tastes good! I love Turkish food and although it is renowned for it’s grilled meats and poultry, for me it’s never been about the meat, it’s always been about the bread and mezes.

Kisir is one of my favourite Turkish mezes, I order this dish whenever I go to eat Turkish food. It’s a dish that is made from bulgar wheat, tomato paste and parsley and has many different variations. It was with dish in mind that I decided to come up with a recipe using couscous (instead of bulgar), feta cheese and peppers, which are staple ingredients in my household. Kisir also calls for fresh parsley which I rarely buy unless I am cooking a dish which specifically calls for it, however I almost always have fresh coriander at home, so decided to use this instead.

When I made this recipe my son walked in after school, had a taste, and told me it was “yummy”. That statement coming from a teen after eating a dish that contained no chicken or fish actually got me excited, lol! So armed with this knowledge I felt quietly confident that I could get my kids to appreciate this dish at mealtimes as a main dish or as a side dish when replacing chips or rice. As explained on my Instagram account, I want to expand the number of vegetarian recipes on my website simply because I think vegetarian food is healthier, takes less time to prepare and cook than meat or fish, it’s also cheaper.

I used 4 sweet pointed peppers in this recipe but had some extra filling leftover, next time I plan to use 6 pointed peppers. Alternatively, if you use red bell peppers I’m sure the filling would be used up as they would hold more of the filling inside. I recommend calculating 1 whole pepper for each individual as a starter or side dish, for a main meal you may want to calculate 2 peppers per individual. This is another addition to the many vegetarian recipes I have already uploaded which you can check out, I sure hope you have fun bringing this colourful and flavoursome dish to life!

Serves 4 – 6

You will need: for Couscous & Feta Stuffed Peppers

4 – 6 sweet pointed peppers (you may also use red bell peppers for this recipe)
250g couscous
200g feta cheese
1 stock cube (I am using Oxo vegetarian stock cubes)
3/4 of a pint (425ml) of boiling water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
oil for frying
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt (the feta cheese and stock also contain salt, so adding less is better)
3 tbsp tomato puree
1/3 of a bunch of coriander

Method:

Start by boiling 3/4 of a pint (425ml) of cold water.

Dissolve 1 stock cube in 3/4 of a pint (425ml) of boiling water, add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the stock….

….followed by 2 tbsp of lemon juice and mix together.

Weigh 250g of couscous, then pour over the stock. Mix well and leave covered with some clingfilm to allow the couscous to absorb all the stock.

Next, peel and dice 1 large onion.

Peel and chop 3 cloves of garlic.

In a large frying pan heat up some oil (I usually pour enough oil to cover the base of my frying pan).

Once the oil is hot add the diced onion and chopped garlic….

….followed by 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix and let the onions fry until soft, this should take about 5 – 7 minutes.

Whilst the onion fries, prep the peppers (wash, slice and deseed) and chop the coriander. You can leave the peppers whole and don’t have to cut them like I did, I just wanted to expose the filling so they would look more attractive once served. They were a little difficult to plate up cut open like this as the peppers became quite soft, but hey, you learn as you go, lol!

Once the onion and garlic look soft (bottom right photo), you may add the remaining ingredients.

Add 3 tbsp of tomato puree, mix well and gently fry.

By now the couscous will have absorbed all of the stock, fork through to fluff up and add to the frying pan.

Fry for a couple of minutes, you will see the couscous take on a reddish colour.

Add the chopped coriander just as you remove the couscous from the heat, you don’t want to cook the coriander. Transfer the couscous to a bowl and allow to cool.

Once cooled, crumble in 200g of feta cheese, keep some large crumbly chunks.

Place the halved peppers on a baking tray.

Next, I stuffed and baked my peppers with the filling inside but I would actually recommend baking the peppers with a light drizzle of oil for 10 – 15 minutes on gas mark 6 BEFORE adding the filling, THEN placing the filling inside and baking for 5 more minutes to heat the filling. The reason being that I found the peppers took longer to bake being stuffed and some of the couscous on top dried out, this could be avoided by following this advice.

I placed the couscous and feta filling inside the peppers, lightly drizzled with oil and baked these for 20 – 30 minutes on gas mark 6 until the peppers were soft. If you want to avoid the mistakes I made, follow the advice above. These peppers were delicious nevertheless and thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Serve your Couscous & Feta Stuffed Peppers just as they are and enjoy!

Couscous & Feta Stuffed Peppers

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Afelia's Kitchen

Serves: 4 - 6

Ingredients

• 4 - 6 sweet pointed peppers (you may also use red bell peppers for this recipe)
• 250g couscous
• 200g feta cheese
• 1 stock cube (I am using Oxo vegetarian stock cubes)
• ¾ of a pint (425ml) of boiling water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• oil for frying
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• ½ tsp salt (the feta cheese and stock also contain salt, so adding less is better)
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• ⅓ of a bunch of coriander

Method

1. Start by boiling ¾ of a pint (425ml) of cold water.
2. Dissolve 1 stock cube in ¾ of a pint (425ml) of boiling water, add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the stock....
3. followed by 2 tbsp of lemon juice and mix together.
4. Weigh 250g of couscous, then pour over the stock. Mix well and leave covered with some clingfilm to allow the couscous to absorb all the stock.
5. Next, peel and dice 1 large onion.
6. Peel and chop 3 cloves of garlic.
7. In a large frying pan heat up some oil (I usually pour enough oil to cover the base of my frying pan).
8. Once the oil is hot add the diced onion and chopped garlic....
9. followed by ½ tsp of salt. Mix and let the onions fry until soft, this should take about 5 - 7 minutes.
10. Whilst the onion fries, prep the peppers (wash, slice and remove seeds) and chop the coriander. You can leave the peppers whole and don't have to cut them like I did, I just wanted to expose the filling so they would look more attractive once served. They were a little difficult to plate up cut open like this as the peppers became quite soft, but hey, you learn as you go, lol!
11. Once the onion and garlic look soft (bottom right photo), you may add the remaining ingredients.
12. Add 3 tbsp of tomato puree, mix well and gently fry.
13. By now the couscous will have absorbed all of the stock, fork through to fluff up and add to the frying pan.
14. Fry for a couple of minutes, you will see the couscous take on a reddish colour.
15. Add the chopped coriander just as you remove the couscous from the heat, you don't want to cook the coriander. Transfer the couscous to a bowl and allow to cool.
16. Once cooled, crumble in 200g of feta cheese, keep some large crumbly chunks.
17. Place the halved peppers on a baking tray.
18. Next, I stuffed and baked my peppers with the filling inside but I would actually recommend baking the peppers with a light drizzle of oil for 10 - 15 minutes on gas mark 6 BEFORE adding the filling, THEN placing the filling inside and baking for 5 more minutes to heat the filling. The reason being that I found the peppers took longer to bake being stuffed and some of the couscous on top dried out, this could be avoided by following this advice.
19. I placed the couscous and feta filling inside the peppers, lightly drizzled with oil and baked these for 20 - 30 minutes on gas mark 6 until the peppers were soft. If you want to avoid the mistakes I made, follow the advice above. These peppers were delicious nevertheless and thoroughly enjoyed by all!
20. Serve your Couscous & Feta Stuffed Peppers just as they are and enjoy!

3.5.3251

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