Middle Eastern Style Stuffed Capsicum
This Middle Eastern-inspired recipe features roasted capsicum stuffed with a fragrant mixture of fluffy Israeli couscous, vegetables, feta cheese, and aromatic spices. The couscous is cooked in vegetable stock and combined with sautéed onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and a blend of cumin, coriander, and cinnamon.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 capsicums
- ½ cup Israel couscous
- 1.5 cups vegetable stock
- 1/2 red onion diced
- ½ carrot diced
- ½ stick celery diced
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1.5 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 20g dates chopped
- 20g walnuts chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- juice half lemon
- 50g Feta Cheese or vegan feta cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Slice the capsicum in half down the middle you can leave the stems on. Using a small Sharpe knife remove the white membrane and seeds inside to create space for the filling.
Place the Capsicum skin side down onto a baking tray, Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 200 degrees for 25 minutes.
Add the Couscous into a pot and cover with vegetable stock. Bring to the boil & reduce the heat cook for 15 minutes or till the couscous is soft. Drain out any excess water and rinse the couscous to prevent it from sticking together.
Heat a large frying Pan with olive oil. Add the diced carrots, celery onion and garlic sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add the spices, cumin, coriander, and cinnamon cook for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the couscous, chopped walnuts, and dates cook for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat & mix through 2/4 of the feta cheese, freshly chopped parsley into the mixture. Squeeze over half the juice of one lemon.
Stuff each capsicum with the couscous mixture, you can use the back of the spoon to pack the mixture in.
Place the stuffed capsicum back onto the baking tray, sprinkle over the remaining feta cheese. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180 degrees and cook for 15 minutes.
Although this dish is better eaten hot it can most certainly be eaten cold & can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
STORING LEFTOVERS
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To store properly, allow the capsicums to cool to room temperature before transferring it to the container. When reheating, it is recommended to reheat the stuffed capsicum in the oven at a low temperature to avoid overcooking or drying out the filling.
