You may be wondering what has happened to our family cooking classes… Well they have continued, even with the busy process of moving. Although there was an added delay due to possibly deleted photos – and I didn’t want to post without photos 😛 . Yay – photos found… now I’ll continue…
Our third family cooking class was a lovely stuffed capsicum dish, with a rice, lamb, onion, tomato and spice stuffing in capsicums which had been boiled in salted water (a step I had never done before) then cooked on the stove (another step I hadn’t done – I’ve always cooked them in the oven) in diced tomatoes and lemon juice.
It may have taken a bit longer than we had expected, as it often takes a while to figure out what you’re meant to be doing from the recipe and trying to make sure everyone gets a go. They are relatively easy though, even though I mentioned it took a while, especially if you have made the rice or filling beforehand. I’m sure for those who do not want or are unable to get lamb mince, that you could substitute it with beef mince or a vegetable filling of mushrooms, eggplant etc and it would still taste fantastic!
Nonetheless, once you’ve got these capsicums in and cooking, there is plenty of time to make naan bread and/or clean up from the preparation.
Stuffed Capsicums
Recipe adapted from rice and risotto (sorry I’m not sure of the author as this isn’t from one of my books)
Serves: 6
6 capsicums
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 spring onions, finely chopped
150g minced lamb
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup yellow split peas
1/2 – 1 cup cooked long grain rice
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1 teaspoon cinnamon
juice of two lemons
2-4 tablespoons tomato puree
400g (one or two cans) chopped tomatoes
tablespoon butter
salt and ground pepper
natural yoghurt and naan bread, to serve
Cut the tops off the capsicums, remove seeds and core. If the capsicums are going to fall over, trim a little off the bottom, so they stand. Cook in boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.
Place the split peas in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until soft. Drain.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook onion and spring onions until golden brown. Add the garlic and lamb and cook over medium heat until well browned. Stir in split peas, cooked rice, herbs, cinnamon, juice of lemon and tomato puree into the meat mixture. Stir to combine, then stuff into the capsicums. Place capsicum lids on top.
Place chopped tomatoes, butter and juice of one lemon into a large saucepan. Place capsicums on top of tomato mix with stems upwards. Bring to boil, cover with lid and cook on low/medium for 40-45minutes until peppers are tender.
Serve with the tomato mixture, yoghurt and naan bread.
