Stuffed poblanos and other peppers

Poblanos are mild chilli peppers from Mexico. They are green, have pointy tips and lots of flavour. We love them stuffed, as there isn’t too much heat in the dish and the flavours of all the ingredients come together nicely. But if you don’t like spicy food, this recipe is just as great with regular peppers. In fact, I usually make both at the same time. Stuffed peppers allow for some flexibility in terms of ingredients, and they are excellent fresh or re-heated next day.

·      Meat: your choice. I use beef and pork, and I grind it myself as I prefer very finely ground meat. But regular ground meat from the store is fine, as are piece of leftover chicken. Fry it with salt, pepper, paprika, turmeric, garlic, and any other spice your heart desires. Caramelized onions are wonderful here as well. Cool everything.

·      Cook rice. Again, any rice will work. I prefer basmati. I roughly use one cup of cooked rice to one cup of meat, but any proportion works. Cool the rice.

·      Other additions I have used: green peas, shredded carrots, and finally diced red peppers for colour.

·      Stir everything together. I like adding a couple of eggs to the mixture, so that the stuffing stays together and eating the pepper is a bit less messy. You can add shredded cheese as well.

·      Wash the peppers. Cut off the end with the stem and remove seeds.

·      Stuff each pepper with the meat and rice mixture and cover it with the cut-off part.

·      Arrange the peppers in a greased pan and bake for about an hour at 400 degrees.

·      Sprinkle with parsley for serving.

This dish can easily be adapted for a vegetarian diet. Just don’t add meat, and put your favourite veggies instead.