I was watching Saturday Kitchen a few weeks back and there was a random snippet of a random BBC cooking program I’d never even heard of. Never heard of the guy cooking, never heard of the show. I admit I might not have been on top form (which might not have assisted my memory), having been out the night before, but that’s neither here nor there. The long and the short of it is, I got some inspiration for a dish.

Life has taken one of its rather hectic turns these last few weeks - not made any easier by being Six Nations time, and by the way, Scotland came 3rd! Who saw that coming? - which has stopped me from being in the kitchen and writing, hence the blog being rather quiet. It also looks like it will remain that way for the foreseeable future, so there will be little rambling coming your way.

There’s something I love about roasted red peppers, so when I saw the mystery man cooking with them, tomatoes and some basil (excellent flavour combo right there), I decided to give it a go. I did come across a slight flaw in this cunning plan, however, as I didn’t have any basil and was feeling too lazy to go out and get some. I had some spinach kicking about though, so I substituted one set of green leaves for another and also chucked in a few other things I had in the fridge. And hey presto, a taste of the Mediterranean - great for an uplifting dinner.

Spinach and Tomato Stuffed Roasted Red Peppers

This recipe is adapted from a random man off BBC1, however, I’ve changed both the ingredients and method sufficiently from the original that I don’t mind sharing it. I made enough for one fairly hungry person.

Ingredients

1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
smallish handful of spinach
50g cous cous
2 slices of salami Milano
1 pinch of smoked paprika
1 pinch of mixed herbs
1 dsp olive oil
100ml water

Directions

Preheat your oven to 180ºC.

Half and hull your pepper(s) and line each half with a slice of salami and a couple of small spinach leaves (enough to cover the inside of the pepper). Next peel and quarter your tomatoes. I find them easiest to peel if you slit a cross into the bottom (non-stalk end) and put them into a bowl of almost-boiling water for ten mins, then the skins come off much more easily.

Squish your peeled and quartered tomatoes into the peppers (crushing them a bit will make the dish juicier)and then squish a few more spinach leaves into the gaps. put on a tray then season and drizzle with the oil. Put in the top of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the peppers are roasted through.

Whilst the peppers are cooking boil the water, and just cover the cous cous. Stir in the paprika and the mixed herbs so that they are spread evenly through. Cover and allow the cous cous absorb the water, it should take about ten mins at most.

Once both sections are cooked through, make a bed of cous cous on a plate and transfer your roasted peppers on to the top. Add more herbs or pepper, if you wish. Then tuck in.

Craig Craig (213 Posts)

Edinburgh-dwelling, baking and food-obsessed, twenty-something adventure enthusiast. Runs on liberal amounts of coffee, cheese, cake and gin; bribable with same.


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