Stuffed Bell Peppers

To be honest, I was a little nervous about the recipe for Stuffed Bell Peppers. It looks really complicated and also looks like it takes a long time to prepare. With a little foresight, though, it's pretty simple. Here's the recipe:

• 2 cups of rice, cooked (brown, white or basmati) (1 to 1 1/4 cups uncooked rice)
• 6 to 8 bell peppers (try using a mixture of colours for visual appeal and a bit of variation in taste). One can be chopped and included in the stuffing.
• 1 medium-sized onion (about 1 cup/250 ml)
• 1 cup (250 ml) of chickpeas or 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes or chopped tinned tomatoes (or use one medium-sized can of tomatoes)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) tomato paste or sauce (I used paste). Use more than this if you like.
• 4 carrots (2 cups, 500 ml), finely chopped
• 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) paprika
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
• 1 cup (250 ml) fresh bread crumbs (or less if you prefer less of this topping)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Start off by getting the rice cooked and ready to use, using your rice cooker or a suitable saucepan on the stovetop.
2. Rinse the bell peppers and slice the top off of each, about an inch down. Remove the stem, seeds and white ribs from the inside of each using a spoon and/or knife. If they do not sit flat, slice a little bit off of the bottom.
3. Bring some water to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan (enough so that the peppers can be mostly emersed in it). Add the peppers (in batches if necessary) to the boiling water, cut side up, and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. While the peppers are simmering or steaming on the stovetop preheat the oven to 350⁰ F (180⁰ C).
5. Chop the onions, carrots (and one bell pepper if adding). Rinse and finely chop the parsley.
Finely chop or mince the fresh garlic.
6. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil in a medium to large frying pan/skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bell pepper and carrots and stir until the onions are soft and the carrots are beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
7. Remove the steamed bell peppers from the saucepan, drain and set aside.
8. If using canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drain and rinse them. If using dried chickpeas you'll need to have them cooked so they are tender and ready to use at this point.
9. In a large bowl, mix together the chickpeas, rice, carrots, bell pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, paprika, parsley, salt and pepper.
10. Place the peppers cut side up in a lightly greased casserole dish. Stuff the peppers with the rice chickpea mixture pressing down when you have added enough to fill the inside of each pepper. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over top. Drizzle some olive oil over top of all of the peppers. Cover with foil or a lid.
11. Place the casserole dish on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cover (lid or foil) and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, a total of 30 to 35 minutes, until the bread crumb topping is a bit crisp looking.

By the time the bell peppers came out of the oven, it was 9:00 PM. In any case, they were really good! I didn't have any bread crumbs and didn't have time to make them, but I'm sure the peppers would have been even better with the addition. Other than that, I didn't change anything. I had an idea to make this faster, though. Instead of baking the filling in the peppers, you could easily serve just the filling. (I tried some of the leftover filling and it was really good; all of the ingredients are cooked anyway.) That way, you wouldn't have to worry about firing up the oven. Plus, it would be much quicker.

Total time: 1 hour