Tales of East European Travel, Culture & Food (… With Occasional Diversions to Africa & Beyond)
This makes an ideal starter because you can easily prepare the mushrooms and just finish off under the grill to serve to your guests. Alternatively, they make a great lunchtime or supper snack for the peckish among you. Also, this dish makes a great vegetarian dish if you omit the bacon and perhaps include some chopped chestnuts or meat substitute if you so desire.
This is not a quick fix dish, it is a bit of a dinner party piece. I would suggest making extra so you can pick the ones which look best as it is quite difficult to re-create their structural stability after the skin has been removed. It’s a great starter though, very tasty, mainly because the creaminess of the feta really complements the warmth of the chili while the parsley refreshes your palette for the next mouthful.
Ingredients (serves 2 -4)
4 peppers (can be red, green or yellow but personally, I think red taste best)
50g plain flour
1 egg, beaten
olive oil for shallow frying
For the filling:
1 egg, beaten
90g feta cheese finely crumbled
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1 small red chili, seeded and chopped
Instructions:
Slit open peppers
Scoop out seeds and core but leave peppers in one piece
Carefully open out peppers and place under hot grill (skin side up!)
Cook until the skin is charred and blackened
Place the peppers in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from over-cooking
Leave peppers until cooled and peel off skin
Mix feta, egg, parsley, chili together in a bowl
Fill each pepper with mix
Secure peppers if necessary with wooden cocktail sticks
Dip peppers in seasoned plain flour, then egg, then flour again
Fry the peppers in olive oil for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and filling set
Drain peppers on kitchen paper before serving
Peppers done! Serve!
