Of all the vegetables you can stuff, sweet bell peppers are among the most amenable. Unlike eggplant, onions or zucchini, which need their guts scooped to make room, or cabbage or grape leaves, which first have to be blanched, bell peppers are ready to go. Just slice them in half, shake out the seeds (or don’t; they’re harmless), and they’re all set for any savory mixture you can think of.
Since their hollow insides practically beg for filling, peppers have been prime candidates for stuffing the world over, using whatever locally adored mixture fits. Shredded chicken or pork, fish paste, mashed potatoes, bulgur, breadcrumbs, cheese, various vegetables and eggs have all found themselves wrapped in the sweet embrace of a roasted pepper. Here in the United States, stuffed peppers are customarily packed with beef and rice, doused with chili sauce and blanketed in cheese.
These darlings of high school home economics classes have long been beloved for their soft, familiar coziness. Though my recipe draws inspiration from those distinctively American peppers, it takes a few liberties. I’ve made these vegetarian, for a start, by replacing the meat with earthy chickpeas, and kept things lighter by leaving out the rice.
The cheese stays, obviously. Using chili powder here is a shortcut that rounds out the filling without resorting to syrupy chili sauce. Then, I layer in even more complexity with judicious amounts of ground cumin, scallions, lemon juice and tomato paste.
The pep.
