Moroccan stuffed peppers recipe

Details

• Cuisine: Moroccan
• Recipe Type: Peppers
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 40 mins
• Serves: 4

Step-by-step

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
2. Start with roasting the romano peppers. Use a knife to make a vertical incision 5cm (2 inches) in length from the stem end towards the other end of each pepper, making sure that you don’t cut right to the ends. You will use this incision to scoop out the seeds once the peppers are cooked.
3. Lay the peppers in a roasting tin and roast for about 25 minutes or until their skins look wrinkly and their flesh is soft. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. Meanwhile, heat a dry frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the hazelnuts and toast for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden.
5. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then use a food processor or pestle and mortar to coarsely grind the nuts. Set aside until ready to serve.
6. To make the bakoula salad, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat.
7. Add the swiss chard and then stir in the remaining ingredients, cover the pan and cook for about 8 minutes until the chard is soft.
8. Uncover the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more salt if necessary.
9. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside until ready to stuff the peppers.
10.  Once the peppers are cool enough to handle, use a spoon to carefully extract and discard the seeds, making sure that you don’t damage the flesh.
11. Mix the yogurt and lemon juice together in a small bowl.
12. Divide the bakoula salad into quarters and use one-quarter to stuff each romano pepper.
13. To serve, drizzle the yogurt sauce on to the stuffed peppers and scatter with the ground hazelnuts.

This recipe from Casablanca: My Moroccan Food by Nargisse Benkkabou. Published by Mitchell Beazley, £20. Photography by Matt Russell.