I grew up on stuffed bell peppers. In the traditional Italian style, my grandmother would fill them with seasoned ground beef, rice, spinach, and cheese as a binder. They were always delicious and savoury.
This Halloween I was invited to a Halloween Potluck, and I knew I wanted to stuff orange bell peppers and carve tiny pumpkin faces into them as a themed dish - but I wasn't really feeling the traditional Italian stuffing. Enter shawarma spiced rice - already delicious, a great foundation for the rice part of the dish, sub chicken (or lamb if you like) for the ground beef, and voila, some new flavours for an old recipe. Plus, they're hella cute.
Servings
6 (1 bell pepper per person)
Ingredients
For the Shawarma Spice Mix
2 lemons, whole (juiced)
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
Ground cinnamon, pinch
Red pepper flakes, to taste
For the Bell Peppers
6 bell peppers
2 lbs chicken thighs (or 1.5 lbs ground chicken)
2 cups short grain rice
4 cups chicken broth
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 can diced tomatoes (optional)
2 cups spinach, fresh, chopped
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Panko Bread Crumbs & Parmesean for topping
Salt
Equipment
1 lidded frying pan
1 pot/rice cooker
1 pan
Directions
Combine the ingredients for the shawarma spice mix and marinade the chicken in it in a refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Once the marinade is complete, remove from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Pour the broth and rice into a pot or the basin of your rice cooker and cook until soft.
Pour the marinade and chicken into a 1.5” or deeper pan. Sauté on medium high with the lid on until just cooked through. Once cooked, drain off the liquid and reserve. Turn the heat up on the stove, and brown the chicken on both sides in the pan, this time with the lid off. Remove chicken to a cutting board and dice into small pieces.
In the pan used to cook the chicken, sauté the onions and garlic with a bit of olive oil and salt on medium until softened. Add the diced tomatoes and saute until simmering. Add the spinach, put the lid back on the pot and cook until softened. Add in the cooked rice, and mozzarella. Stir to combine.
Cut the tops off all 6 bell peppers and remove the seeds and white flesh inside using your hands. Carve a pumpkin face into the side of each pepper if you like. Brush with olive oil on outside, then fill with the rice mixture. Sprinkle panko and parmesean on top of the bell peppers
Arrange the bell peppers in a greased pan and bake, uncovered, for 1 hour at 350°F, or until the peppers seem soft. Finish with a quick broil for 5 minutes to brown the tops and enjoy!
