Roasted Red Peppers stuffed with Couscous, mediterranean vegetables and greek feta cheese are great as a main or as a delicious side dish to chicken or fish. Ready in just 30 minutes, they are easy to put together and can be made in advance.
Recipes to pair with Stuffed Peppers
Enjoy these peppers on their own as a vegetarian main or as an accompaniment to some of these dishes. They also work well as eye catching sides at a BBQ!
Recipe Tips and Variations
The best peppers to use are red peppers as they are the sweetest. Peppers change colour as they ripen and go from green to yellow to red.
Couscous works well for stuffing peppers as it's very easy to flavour but you could also use rice or cooked lentils.
Mediterranean vegetables such as red onions, courgette and aubergine go nicely with the couscous. Be careful to chop the vegetables up quite small so you can get a good variety in each pepper half. Feta cheese goes well with the couscous or you could also use halloumi cheese which cooks very well and pair it with basil leaves rather than mint. A soft goats cheese is also delicious. To keep these stuffed peppers vegan, I would recommend just substituting for a vegan feta cheese.
As a main I would serve two whole bell peppers per person, so four pepper halves. For a side dish, just one or two pepper halves will be enough. The recipe is for a main course for 4 people.
How to make them
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 3a Step 4 Step 5
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Place the peppers in a pan of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes, then remove and drain. This helps speed up the cooking time and means they don't need as long to bake in the oven.
- Put the couscous in a bowl, add the hot vegetable stock, cover with a plate or a tight fitting lid and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the courgette and onion over a medium heat until soft.
- Fluff up the couscous with a fork. Stir in the lemon juice, 1 tablespoons of olive oil, courgettes, onions, feta cheese and most of the chopped mint.
- Place the pepper halves on a baking tray, spoon in the couscous mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the remaining mint and serve with a green salad and any remaining couscous
Sustainability
Eating vegetables in season from local sources can really help to reduce our carbon footprint as well as support local farmers. Try to buy vegetables loose without any packaging if possible. Building in some meat free days to our weekly diet is also a good way to keep our carbon footprint low. For more information on how this can help, visit my Eating Sustainably page.
Storage
Couscous Stuffed Peppers can be made in advance and eaten hot or cold. Couscous stores well and can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days and is a useful addition to meals, particularly in the warmer months when we are looking for lighter options. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Roasted Red Peppers stuffed with Couscous
Ingredients
- 8 red peppers organic, halved, cored, seeds removed
- 250 g couscous organic, fairtrade
- 400 ml vegetable stock organic
- 2 tablespoon olive oil organic, fairtrade
- 2 courgettes organic, diced into 1cm cubes
- 2 red onions organic, diced into 1cm cubes
- 1 lemons organic, fairtrade, juice of
- 200 g feta cheese organic, cut 1cm cubes
- 10 g fresh mint organic, leaves chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4
- Place the peppers in a pan of boiling water and boil for 5 minutes, then remove and drain.
- Put the couscous in a bowl, add the hot vegetable stock, cover with a plate or a tight fitting lid and leave to stand for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and fry the courgette and onion until soft.
- Fluff up the couscous with a fork. Add the lemon juice, 1 tablespoons of olive oil, courgettes, onions, feta cheese and most of the chopped mint.
- Place the pepper halves on a baking tray, spoon in the couscous mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the remaining mint and serve with a green salad and the remaining couscous
Notes
Tips
- The best peppers to use are red peppers as they are the sweetest.
- Serve as a main or side dish. 2 whole peppers is enough for a main.
- Chop the mediterranean vegetables small so you get a good variety in each pepper half.
- Other cheeses you could use are Halloumi or soft goats cheese.
- Instead of couscous, you could also use cooked rice or cooked lentils.
Storage
Couscous along with the peppers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can make these stuffed peppers in advance. Couscous can also be frozen for up to 3 months.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
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