Peperoni ripieni — rice-stuffed pepper halves with a breadcrumb crust
One tender pepper half per person, filled with part-cooked short-grain rice, tomato, olives, capers, pine nuts and raisins, beneath a golden crust of breadcrumbs, olive oil and oregano. A southern Italian pareve antipasto, delicious hot or warm.
Ingredients for two
| 200 g | Red peppers 1 large 200 g pepper, halved lengthways; one half per person |
| 40 g | Short-grain rice, for baked rice, stuffing and Tunisian pilaf 20 g uncooked rice per person; short-grain rice for stuffing, never basmati or Persian rice |
| 380 g | Water 300 g for cooking the rice, 50 g lukewarm to plump the raisins, 30 g for the baking dish |
| 40 g | Yellow onions a generous quarter of a medium onion, finely chopped |
| 5 g | Garlic 1 chopped clove |
| 100 g | Tinned whole peeled tomatoes, such as San Marzano (400 g tin) 1/4 tin with its juice, crushed by hand |
| 20 g | Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli) 5 pitted Kalamata olives (4 g each), drained but not rinsed, roughly chopped |
| 5 g | Capers 1/2 tbsp (1 heaped tsp), rinsed and drained |
| 10 g | Pine nuts 1 tbsp |
| 10 g | Raisins 1 level tbsp |
| 10 g | Fresh basil about 10 leaves, torn by hand; reserve a few for serving |
| 15 g | Breadcrumbs 1 1/2 heaped tbsp |
| 0.5 g | Dried oregano a generous pinch (1/2 tsp) |
| 30 g | Extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp: 10 g for the onion, 5 g on the peppers, 5 g in the breadcrumbs, 5 g in the dish and 5 g drizzled over before baking |
| 5 g | Fine salt 3 g in the rice water (10 g per litre), 1 g on the peppers, 1 g in the tomato |
| 0.5 g | Ground black pepper 1/4 tsp |
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C conventional. Halve the pepper lengthways, keeping the stalk to hold the shells together, and remove the seeds and white membranes. Place both halves snugly in a small baking dish, cut side up; brush with 5 g oil and season with 1 g salt. Bake for 15 minutes: the flesh should begin to soften without collapsing. Take out and leave in the dish, keeping the oven at 200°C.
- Meanwhile, soak the raisins in 50 g lukewarm water for 10 minutes to plump them. Bring 300 g water to the boil in a small saucepan with 3 g salt (10 g per litre). Toast the pine nuts in the dry medium saucepan over a medium-low heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring until pale golden, then set aside on a plate.
- In the same saucepan, heat 10 g oil over a medium-low heat. Soften the chopped onion for 5 minutes until translucent, then add the garlic for 30 seconds without browning. Add the crushed tomatoes and 1 g salt and reduce over a medium heat for 4–5 minutes: the sauce should be thick but flowing, not a paste. Reserve 2 tbsp of the sauce for the bottom of the dish.
- As soon as the water boils, add the rice and cook at a rolling boil for exactly 7 minutes, stirring once. The grains should still be distinctly firm in the centre; they will finish cooking inside the peppers, absorbing the tomato. Drain without rinsing and immediately add to the saucepan of sauce, off the heat.
- Add the drained raisins, chopped olives, rinsed and drained capers, pine nuts, pepper and half the hand-torn basil to the rice. Taste: the filling should be moist, glossy and well seasoned. In a bowl, rub the breadcrumbs, 5 g oil and oregano together with your fingertips to make fragrant, oily crumbs.
- Pour the reserved sauce, 30 g water and 5 g oil into the bottom of the baking dish. Mound the filling in the two pepper halves without packing it down, cover each with the oregano breadcrumbs and drizzle with the remaining 5 g oil.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes at 200°C: the liquid in the dish should simmer during cooking. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes, until the crumbs are golden and crisp, the pepper flesh yields to the tip of a knife and the rice is tender. If the dish is dry when uncovered, add 2 tbsp hot water; there should be a little sauce left.
- Rest for 5 minutes out of the oven. Serve one pepper half per person, hot or warm, with a few basil leaves and a spoonful of the juices from the dish. Do not leave them standing at room temperature for several hours.
On your plate
Recipe
359 kcal · protein 6 g · carbs 34 g · fat 21 g
Quantities per person
- 100 g Red peppers
- 20 g Short-grain rice, for baked rice, stuffing and Tunisian pilaf
- 190 g Water
- 20 g Yellow onions
- 2.5 g Garlic
- 50 g Tinned whole peeled tomatoes, such as San Marzano (400 g tin)
- 10 g Black olives in brine (Kalamata, Gaeta or Israeli)
- 2.5 g Capers
- 5 g Pine nuts
- 5 g Raisins
- 5 g Fresh basil
- 7.5 g Breadcrumbs
- 0.25 g Dried oregano
- 15 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 2.5 g Fine salt
- 0.25 g Ground black pepper
Cooking tips
Rinse only the capers; simply drain the olives, as rinsing Kalamata olives washes away their flavour. Short-grain rice for stuffing is essential; long-grain rice makes a loose, crumbly filling. These are better the next day, cold or barely warmed, with a drizzle of uncooked olive oil: make double for Saturday's lunch starter. For a double batch, or 4 people, use one red and one yellow pepper: the cooking is the same and the plate more colourful. Serve before a main course without a substantial starchy side, such as grilled fish or chicken with vegetables. If prepared the day before, reheat covered, then uncover for 5 minutes to crisp up the crust.
Southern Italian peperoni ripieni di riso from Campania and Sicily: part-cooked short-grain rice, capers, olives, pine nuts and raisins with a breadcrumb crust; a pareve version without pecorino or anchovies.
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