Freekeh stuffed peppers
This recipe for peppers stuffed with freekeh (Fil fil mahshi bil freekeh) is adapted from chef Joudie Kalla via the good people at Zaytoun. Serves 2 – scale up as needed.
Ingredients
- 2 red peppers halved and deseeded
- 1 small courgette chopped
- 1 spring onion and half yellow onion diced
- 2 small tomatoes diced
- 100 g freekeh
- 500 ml tomato passata
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 50 ml olive oil
- a bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped
- a small bunch of fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C fan (210°C/415°F/Gas 6–7). Place the cut peppers in a deep baking tray.
- Mix the remaining vegetables with the freekeh in a large bowl and add half the passata. Season with half the salt and the pepper, and stir through the olive oil and herbs. Use a spoon to fill the pepper halves with the mixture.
- Pour the rest of the passata around the peppers in the tray, adding about 360ml water and season with the remaining salt. Cover the tray tightly with foil – this will create steam inside to cook the freekeh.
- Bake for about 35 minutes until the freekeh is cooked. Use a small teaspoon to try a bit of freekeh; if it needs more time, return the tray to the oven for another 5–10 minutes.
- Serve with some of the warm tomato passata from the baking tray and a dollop of Greek-style soya yogurt or similar.
- Tip: If you have any stuffing mixture left over, which often happens as peppers are different sizes, simply place it in a saucepan and add enough water to cover by 2.5cm. Cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes to make a lovely thick, grainy soup.
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