Simple Stuffed Peppers

These were made as a spur of the moment thing, my girlfriend was prowling the kitchen for food and came upon peppers, I suggested stuffed peppers and proceeded to make them. 

These were made from whatever happened to be in the kitchen and were entirely unplanned, you could easily swap most of the ingredients for others, the vegetables are interchangeable and meat could be added. The rice could also swap with pasta if you prefer. 

Overall they're a quick, easy and very customizable food that anyone can cook, they're also a healthy and fun food to make with lots of people, you can get around eight stuffed peppers on a normal baking tray filled with anything you wish.

Step 1: Ingredients

 - Peppers, I like red ones, but try to use ones that stand up stably on their own. 
 - Rice, I used uncle Bens Mediterranean mix because it was there
 - Onions
 - Tomatoes
 - Cheese

I used 1 onion, 1 relatively large tomato, 1 bag of rice and around 50g of cheese, this fills about 2 and a half peppers depending on their size, just in case you want to make a lot or only one.

Step 2: Gut the Peppers

Using a short sharp knife cut a hole in the top around the stalk, make it relatively large for easier filling later, also the bigger the cap the more likely it'll stay in place while cooking.

Pull the cap off, if it's stuck fast slide the knife in diagonally so it's in the middle of the pepper and hoke about to cut the pieces of flesh holding it. 

Carve out the ribs of flesh around the sides and cut the seed cluster from the bottom of the cap, if you like the flesh cut it out and put it in the filling mix as those ribs are a nuisance. 

Step 3: Rice and Onions

Chop the onions up good and small.

I threw the onions to fry up a little in a pan while the rice was being zapped, you can skip frying the onions if you want, I just like mine sweeter so a quick fry makes them come out nicely, if you do this leave a third aside for now. 

Zap the rice or boil it, by now it's just as easy to get ready to go rice but some may prefer making it themselves. 

Step 4: Add Vegetables

I added a chopped tomato and the other third of the onions to the pan, chucked the rice in and gave it a really quick stir on the heat.

Now is a good time to season the mix as well.  

Step 5: Fill the Peppers

Put the mix in to the pepper, don't compress it in yet, just fill the pepper almost all the way up, leave a half inch yet.

Step 6: Add Cheese

Cut a big thick chunk of cheese, it needs to be thick, stick it straight in to the middle of the filling and right down in to the pepper. 

Add more filling, packing in tight, add a little layer of cheese and a bit more filling, use a spoon to press it all in to place and put your cap back on. 

Step 7: Cooking

I threw them in the oven on a baking tray at 200C for I think twenty minutes, I paid no attention to be honest.

This was a little much but I like peppers that way so bother to me. 

Fifteen minutes at 200C would probably be just right. 

For a crisper and prettier pepper go for 180C for 10-12 minutes.

Step 8: Eat.

Instead of spooning it out of the pepper I cut mine in two, partly to demonstrate the cheese effect and partly because I like to cut the pepper up as I eat the filling and enjoy the two together.