Vegetarian Stuffed Red Peppers

These peppers are stuffed with rice, grated potatoes and cheese, and topped with a seasoned tomato sauce.

This is my mother's recipe, which is my husband's favorite since he loves potatoes and doesn't like meat too much. Usually I make it in the oven, mostly in summer time, but I wanted to try my new slowcooker (this is my third recipe using it). I prepared them in the morning and let them cook for 6.5 hours. It was torture all day: the aroma of the potatoes and cheese and tomato filled the whole house. It was very difficult to wait until they were done.

I had only 4 peppers in my fridge so I added 2 potatoes. The ingredients are simple: you can use both rice and potatoes or just one or the other.

I like to char the peppers to give them that smoky flavour, but you can skip this step, if you wish.

Ingredients
4 large red peppers (tops and seeds removed)
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons butter
Olive oil to drizzle

Stuffing:
2 medium grated potatoes
1 ½ cup cooked rice
1 egg
2 garlic cloves
Salt & pepper
2 cups tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley if available
1 cup grated cheese (emmenthal or Jarlsberg)

Directions

1. Char the peppers on the BBQ or in the oven broiler just enough to give them a smoky flavour, turning them once or twice during roasting. The whole process should take no more than 10 minutes. The longer they roast the softer they get: you do not want that to happen. The peppers should stay firm. Set aside
   
2. In a big bowl, mix 1 tbsp of butter with the rice still warm. Add the grated potatoes, crushed garlic cloves, egg, parsley and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Blend well.
3. Generously butter the bottom and side of the slow cooker.
4. Divide the filling among the peppers
5. Place the peppers in the slow cooker. Add a round 1/2 tsp butter on top of each pepper.
6. Pour tomato sauce around the peppers. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil.
7. Cover and cook on low for 6.5 hours.

See how beautiful it is when it's cooking!




Bon Appetit!