Stuffed Redpepper (with bulgur wheat)

Now, I think this recipe is apparently an healthier option then the normal stuffed pepper as bulgur (bulgar wheat) is used to fill it. Without getting frantic about whether healthy it is or not, I tend to use bulgar in a lot of dish anyway, I find it very tasty.Once you get used to doing it, you can try using the same stuffing for different vegetables like this one stuffed aubergine.aubergine

Here we go:

4 – 5 spoonful of olive oil
5 – 6 preferably small or medium size redpeppers (you can use pointed redpeppers as well, they look quite sweet on the plate)
1 water glass of bulgar wheat
2 tomatoes (or equivalent of canned and chopped tomatoes)
2 onions
2 – 3 spring onions
a bit of salt, blackpepper, mint and allspice
2 spoonful of currant and pinenuts

1. Wash the peppers, cut the heads (do not throw them away you will use them!) and clean the seeds.
2. Heat some water, pour a bit over the bulgar to soak.
3. Chop the onions and spring onions then stir and fry them in a little bit of water. (I try not to fry olive oil as it gets very unhealthy when it is burnt)
4. Then add the bulgar wheat into the pan, stir well, then add the chopped tomatoes, currants and pinenuts. (some people like to fry the pinenuts slightly in another pan, tastes nice)
5. Season well with allspice, mint, blackpepper and a little bit of salt (I sometimes don`t use and actually try to compensate it with spices usually in many recipes), fry a bit more , then leave it cool down.
6. Once it is a bit cool, stuff your peppers with this mixture, put their heads on, and place in a deep or wide pan.
7. Pour some boiled water over them, close the lid and cook for 20 minutes, then check occasionally until the peppers get soft.
Serve warm or cold. and with yoghurt!

Enjoy!

Time to prepare: 15 – 20 mins
Time to cook     : 20 – 30 mins (depends on how hard the redppers are)

Marrow with feta and mint

marrow

It has been a while I have tried this but because of work, had no time to update my blog, so apologies. I am hoping to write more stories coming weeks.

Now, we can say marrow is a type of squash or a courgette so I prefer to cook it as I do to other squashes.

1 big marrow
100 grams of feta or alternatively a hard cheese
fresh or dry mint

50 gr of puy lentils
2 – 3 garlic cloves
red pepper sauce or red chilli flakes
blackpepper
olive oil

1. Cut the marrow in half and clean the seeds. (If the marrow is too hard, then boil it for 10 – 15 minutes before cutting into half.)
2. Boil the puy lentils quickly whilst grillling the halved marrow for 10 minutes
3. Mix the crushed garlic, feta, puy lentils, blackpepper and red chilli flakes with enough olive oil, stir well.
4. Take the marrow out of the grill, check if it is soft enough, if not keep in the grill a bit more, try not to burn the top part.
5. Then take the marrow out again, take the flesh out and mash it with the mix you prepared.
6. Put it back inside the marrow skins, add some mint then grill for about 10 minutes.

Enojy!

Patty pan summer squash with cous cous and camembert

Here is a really delicious comforting dish, If I am honest! First of all, I was wondering what to do with patty pan summer squash I bought from the farmers market and I decided to cook something similar to this recipe but this is totally my invention depending on what I found in the fridge and luckily worked out well! Although camembert is a heavy cheese, I think it gives a nice, creamy texture to squash!

A little note from Wikipedia, made me smile: The name “pattypan” derives from “a pan for baking a patty.” Its French name, “pâtisson,” derives from a Provençal word for a cake made in a scalloped mould.

What do I need to buy?

2 medium or big size patty pan summer squash
a glass of cous cous
left over half a pack of camembert (feta cheese or brie may be?)
two or three cloves of chrushed garlic
parmesan shavings
red pepper flakes or any spicy red pepper sauce
tomato or spicy pepper paste
dry mint (or fresh parsley)
olive oil

How to cook patty pan summer squash?

1. Put the squash into a pan full of water, bring it up to boil and keep until it is soft to let a fork go in.
2. Take them out, cut the tops with a knife and remove the seeds out.
3. Whilst the squash are cooling down, boil some water and pour it on cous cous (just over)
4. In another bowl, mix the camembert, red pepper flakes, one spoonful of tomato or red pepper paste, dry mint, crushed garlic and use a spoonful of watered yoghurt to mix them nicely.
5. Fill your squash with this stuffing then put some parmesan over. Grill them until the top part gets brownish.
6. Serve with some rocket salad and yoghurt!

Delicious!

Stuffed Green Peppers

Hello everybody,

Here we are with another dish which is world famous and is cooked more or less similar in different countries. This is the first in a series of stuffed vegetable recipes I will put here, mainly known as ‘dolma’ in the cuisines of former Ottoman Empire including Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, Armenia and the Middle East.

You can find recipes for stuffed courgettes, aubergine, tomatoes and squash blossoms in time in this blog. (I am not sure I can find them in England but I am hopelessly optimistic:)

Let’s begin with stuffed bell peppers. There are two ways of cooking, with minced meat – here I will use soya mince- or with rice, you eat the first one with yoghurt, the latter, cold and with lemon juice at the top of it. You can find the olive oil version later on.

I would like to mention the type of green pepper, as they are not the normal ones from sainsbury’s or tesco! In London the green bell peppers are too big and thick – I think they are American- but the ones I used are from TFC- Turkish Food Centre, they are smaller and flavorsome. But as a last resort, I use the big ones of course!

Here we go:

7 – 8 bell peppers
200 gr of soya mince (original recipe is with minced meat)
1 glass full of rice
1 onion
2 medium size tomatoes
tomato or pepper paste (preferably spicy or use chilli paprika instead)
half a bunch of flat parsley
blackpepper
salt
2- 3 spoonful of olive oil

1. Wash the peppers and cut the heads and clean the seeds.
2. Heat some water and pour some over the rice to soak.
3. Chop the onions and parsley and mix them well with olive oil, soya mince or minced meat, tomato paste in a bowl, add some, paprika, salt and black pepper to season.
4. Add the rice to this mixture, stir well.
5. Stuff the peppers with this mixture, leave approximately two cm gap at the top.
6. Slice the tomatoes and put them at the top of each pepper as a cap.
7. Place the peppers in a pan and pour two or three glasses of water, cover the top and cook it on a low heat. Check the softness of the peppers with a fork, if they are not cooked after half an hour, leave them longer.

Stuffed peppers are ready! Enjoy them with a spoonful of plain yoghurt!