Jack-o’-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

FROM SUE · PRINTABLE RECIPE

Jack-o’-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

Carve a little face into each orange pepper, then fill it with beef, rice and tomato sauce. A layer of melted mozzarella finishes this Halloween supper. Keep the pepper lids for the table, and let everyone choose their favourite face.

Prep: 25 minutes · Cook: 45 minutes · Total: 75 minutes · Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 Orange bell peppers
• 450 g Ground beef
• 180 g Cooked rice
• 200 ml Tomato sauce
• 120 g Mozzarella
• 1 Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• to taste Salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp Fresh thyme

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Set out a deep baking dish that holds six peppers upright in one layer. Start with 180 g of cooked rice; the listed time assumes you have cooked it ahead. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, strip the thyme leaves and grate the mozzarella.
2. Wash and dry the peppers. Cut a lid from the top of each, leaving the stem attached. Pull out the seeds and white membranes with your fingers or a spoon. Trim only a thin sliver from any uneven base so the pepper can stand, keeping the bottom closed to hold the filling.
3. Use a small paring knife to cut two triangle eyes and a simple mouth into one side of each pepper. Keep the openings small and leave wide strips of pepper between them so the walls stay strong. Cut on a stable board with the blade pointing away from your hand. An adult should handle the knife.
4. Stand the empty peppers in the baking dish and pour about 120 ml hot water around their bases, not inside them. Put the lids on a separate small tray. Cover the pepper dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes to start softening the walls. Keep the lids out of the oven for now.
5. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and stir for 30 seconds. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef and break it into small pieces with a wooden spoon.
6. Cook the beef for 6–8 minutes, stirring and breaking up clumps. Use a food thermometer to check that the ground beef reaches 71°C (160°F). Spoon off excess pooled fat if needed. Stir in the tomato sauce, cooked rice, black pepper and a little salt. Simmer for 2–3 minutes, until the mixture is moist but no longer soupy. Taste and adjust the salt.
7. Take the peppers out of the oven and remove the foil, opening it away from you to release the steam. Divide the hot filling between the six peppers, spooning it in without packing it down. Leave a little room at the top for the cheese. Keep the water in the bottom of the dish.
8. Cover the dish with foil again and bake for 20–25 minutes, until you can pierce the side of a pepper with the tip of a knife. The peppers should feel tender and still hold their shape. If the dish dries out, add a splash of hot water around the bases. Put the tray of lids in the oven for the final 15 minutes of this covered baking time.
9. Remove the foil and divide the mozzarella over the filling. Bake uncovered for another 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Check the center of a stuffed pepper with a clean thermometer; aim for at least 74°C (165°F). Give large peppers a few extra minutes if they need it.
10. Let the peppers stand for 5 minutes. Lift them onto plates with a wide serving spoon, supporting each base. Set the baked lids on top at an angle to show the cheese, as in the photograph. Leave the stems on the plate rather than eating them. Serve one pepper per person, with a salad or bread if you would like a larger meal.

Kitchen notes

• Choose medium orange peppers with broad bases. Very large peppers need more filling and longer in the oven; six medium ones suit the quantities here. Keep the carved features small so rice stays inside.
• Use plain tomato sauce or passata. A seasoned jarred sauce also works, but taste before adding salt. Keep the filling moist enough to spoon: rice can dry out during baking, while a thin sauce can leak through the faces.
• Cook the rice ahead if you want to keep to the stated timing. Cool freshly cooked rice within one hour, refrigerate it and use within 24 hours. Keep it cold until you add it to the hot beef mixture, and reheat it only once.
• For a plainer supper, skip carving the faces and follow the same cooking method. To prepare ahead, carve and refrigerate the empty peppers in a covered container, then cook the filling and bake the dish when you are ready to eat.