Finding new dishes to make in a Gluten Free house is always a challenge. Thankfully, my dear husband is a master at cooking up all sorts of special dishes that fit our lifestyle – without them getting boring and repetitive – or expensive to make.
This dish of peppers stuffed with rice is warm and satisfying, can be served as either lunch or dinner, and can be kept in the fridge and heated again (Though some people even eat it cold).
By changing the number of peppers you’re using, you can easily control the number of people this will feed. For dinner, 1 pepper per person is usually enough. For lunch, or for particularly hungry folks, you might want two peppers per person.
And the costs? This is a really budget-friendly dish – you can sometimes get 5-6 bell peppers for a pound, and the rest of the ingredients are things you’re likely to already have at home.
So let’s dive in…
Serves
4-6
Prep Time
15 Minutes
Cook Time
60 Minutes
Price Range
£
Suitable Diets :
🌾 Gluten Free
🥗 Vegan
Ingredients
- 6 peppers, washed
- 2 onions, washed
- 3 tomatoes, washed
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree (Double Concentrate)
- 3/4 cup rice (I use basmati rice)
- Oil for frying (I use rapeseed oil, enough to generously cover a medium sized frying pan)
- Half a teaspoon of salt
- Tsp of paprika
- One-quarter Tsp black pepper
Ingredients For the sauce:
- 5 Cups Boiling Water
- 2 Cubes – Chicken Stock (Vegan/GF versions as needed)
- 3 Tablespoons Tomato Puree (Double Concentrate)
- 1 Teaspoon of Cumin
- 1 Teaspoon of Paprika
Instructions
1. Chop the onions roughly, set aside. Add oil to a pan and turn on med-high heat. Let the oil heat for about a minute.
2. Add the onions, give it a short stir. Lower heat to medium and let it fry for about five minutes, or until onions are brown. Not dark brown, just a subtle change of colour.
3. The onions are ready for the rice! Add it to the pan and stir for three minutes. Remove from the hob and place this mixture in a medium sized mixing bowl.
4. Now we need to crush the tomatoes! Either grate or use a food processor. Pour to a small mixing bowl, add the tomato paste, salt and paprika, and stir until everything is mixed together nicely.
5. Remember the fried chopped onions and rice mixture in the other bowl? Pour the tomato mix we just made on it, and stir. You should end up with a lovely red rice and onions mixture, ready to be stuffed into those peppers!
6. Speaking of your bell peppers, it’s time to remove the “lid”. Using a good knife, make a single straight cut, removing the top part. Clean what’s inside, just pull it out! Doesn’t have to be perfect.
7. Use a tablespoon to fill about 2/3 of each pepper. Don’t push it too hard, we want to allow the cooking sauce we’re about to make do its job. Place the peppers in a large pot/saucepan, and put the “lid” back on top of each pepper. Almost there!
8. Now for the sauce: All you do is mix the ingredients together into a smooth, boiling kind of soup. Do it all in a big mixing bowl, and when you’re ready, carefully pour this into the pot with the peppers. The sauce should reach about ¾ of the pepper’s height.
9. Cover the pot, and cook it all on medium heat for an hour.
10. Best if you let it stand for at least an hour before serving. Can be eaten hot or cold, leftovers should be kept covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.rapeseed oil
