Many of you smarties spotted a novel shaped pepper in the shot of my Orange Sesame Ginger Chicken.
Long, narrow, and frequently curved, the gorgeous Sheppard Pepper is an intensely flavourful, fall classic. With its sweet taste and thinner flesh than bell pepper, it is also ideal for roasting and stuffing (I’m not sure why, but the word ‘stuffing’ seems entirely vulgar to me).
Sheppard peppers are commonly grown in Ontario but their appeal has made them a popular export commodity. If you are unable to find sheppard peppers, any sweet pepper will work just fine (including bell pepper).
You can slit the sheppard pepper lengthwise (I think that’s the conventional method), but I decided to do it a little bit differently. The tops of the sheppard pepper are so gorgeous that I decided to clip and roast them along with the peppers. I then filled the body of the peppers with the almond rice mixture, a bit like a stuffed pillow (or stocking out of How the Grinch Stole Christmas).
My roasting method is also a bit unconventional, but who’s counting.
Roasted Red Sheppard Peppers with Basmati and Wild Rice
- 4 red sheppard peppers
- 1/2 cup basmati rice
-
1/4 wild rice
-
1 cup natural shaved almond
-
Olive oil
-
Sea salt
—————————————
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Place basmati and wild rice together in a pot on stove. Add 1.5 cups of water. Bring mixture to a boil, add 1 Tbsp olive oil, mix and reduce heat to lowest setting. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes or until water has evaporated and rice is cooked. Remove from heat, add a touch of seasoning and allow to cool.
Meanwhile, cut off the ends of the sheppard peppers, removing interior strings and seeds. Place body of peppers in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.
Bake peppers for approximately 30 minutes or until the skin of the peppers has begun to soften. Remove peppers from oven and allow to cool.
Once rice has cooled, add almonds and mix to combine. Stuff peppers with almond rice mixture.
Twenty minutes or so before serving time, place stuffed peppers and pepper tops (drizzled with olive oil/sea salt) back into the oven for final roasting.
Photos by Trinity Nutrition
These are so adorable! Perfect to serve guests as appetizers!
Whoa… very creative dish. I’m really surprised how little the ingredients are yet these peppers look so delicious!
@Jeanette Love those CSA boxes and everything you’ve done with your produce!
@Shilpa So many possible combinations…fun to play!
@Linda Ah, *filled peppers* – brilliant Linda! Thank you :)
@SallyBR yes, my mom has the same issue…
@Charles Thanks Charles – nothing wrong with cheese :)
@France@beyondthepeel So true! Merci France.
@Anne@frommysweetheart
Ha-ha! Aren’t we all fans of the Grinch :) – I agree, the shape of the sheppard pepper really makes them more interesting and eye pleasing. They also happen to be delicious! Thanks Anne.
@Dzoli That is unexpected Dzoli in such a lush climate with vast vegetation. Funny that.
@Yesim Thank you for dropping in! I appreciate your feedback.
@Sissi Thanks Sissi – I’m thinking every region has a different appelation for roughly the same sweet pepper. They’re so great to work with and the unique shape adds to the fun.
@Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table
Yes, you can certainly dress it up as you please. We had them with the orange, sesame, ginger chicken so there were already plenty of flavours going on…
@kristy Thanks Kristy – the peppers really did remind me of those long, thin, Christmas stockings down in Whoville :)
@Beth Michelle
Me too. So satisfying and yummy. Thanks for dropping by.
@Junia
Thanks Junia! Wild and basmati is one of my favourite rice combos…
Oh, I love the look of this dish. I love stuffed peppers but sure don’t make them enough!
I really like this version of stuffed peppers, light and bright!
I love your rendition of stuffed peppers – I’ve been getting lots of peppers in my CSA Box and love them.
Kelly,
—What an exquisite treat. Lovely colour. xx
Peppers stuffed with rice….very nice…just the right size to for a party…love the colour Kelly…I also would like to stuff them with rice and cottage cheese/ cream cheese – oh! beautiful recipe…thanks for sharing…
Mmm these sound fantastic. I love the addition of almonds. The peppers are the perfect size.
These make a gorgeous presentation and I love the mix of rice(s) along with the almonds. I’d be perfectly happy with this as a meal with a side of salad. I’d say “filled” peppers!
Love the almonds in this dish!
Wonderful recipe, loved the shape and color of those peppers… normally they do not agree with my digestive system, insisting on talking to me for a long, long time, and not always saying nice things! ;-)
but I eat them anyway…
I love stuffed peppers, I like to top them with cheese too, although that kind of detracts from the healthiness of them :D Beautiful looking dish Kelly, and I love the fact that they’re not sitting upright either but laying on their sides – makes it look very classy.
I’ve always stuffed a green pepper, but never sheppard pepper before. These do look wonderful. I love a classic but easy recipe
These look so pretty and delicious! I like the idea of adding almonds to the filling for a bit of crunch!
These not only sound delicious but also look so adorable!!
this looks wonderful lovely stuffing
regards Akheela
torviewtoronto and createwithmom
I just love stuffed peppers! Yours look so tasty and I really like the almonds!
What a great side dish. I like the addition of almonds and wild rice. It’s the simplest recipes that are the best!
YAY! Kelly…I DID have my eye on these peppers and was hoping you would post them! They are just beautiful. I hope I can find these here…because regular bell peppers just won’t do! Visually, these have such great impact! (maybe because I am a fan of the Grinch ;-o ) But the basmati rice mixture with the almonds is perfect! Thanks for posting this!
I know this peppers.I love thsi peppers.I very very very seldom can find it here:(( And funny thing is in NZ soil everything grows like mad except for the peppers;(Looks so tasty and great idea with adding almonds;)
I’d love to try sheppard peppers! The color and shape are great, and the mix of rices sounds delicious with them.
What a wonderful looking dish. Rice and almond stuffing sounds so appealing.
Had similar stuffed peppers before…those look so delicious with almond.
Such a beautiful dish! I’d love to have this with almost any dinner :)
We call in turkey this kinda dish s dolma, This s my fav dolma, i like Red sheppard..
Kelly, your recipe looks so good and so easy!
I admit I haven’t payed attention to these peppers because… they look like the peppers I have been using for years. They have exactly the same shape, colour and from what I see also the size. Mine are Hungarian or Turkish and the variety is called Kapia (or Kapija). I pickle tons of them every year (there is a recipe on my blog if you are tempted…).
I absolutely agree this size and form are perfect for stuffing!
Another Hungarian/Turkish variety has the same form and size, but is very light yellow, almost white. Since I’m a carnivore, I stuff them with meat (there is a wonderful Hungarian recipe for Stuffed Pepper).
Wow – that is a stunning dish! We love stuffed peppers, but you just brought that simple dish to a whole new level!
Very yummy looking! Love the color of the peppers, they look perfect. I just had some wild rice the other day and really liked it. I will have to try stuffing into peppers next time.
We don’t see a lot of sheppard peppers down here, but I’m going to look now. I love the heartiness of wild rice. Bet this would be good with a little rosemary and goat cheese.
Yay! I’m so glad you posted this one. :) I love stuffed peppers!!! And I love the reference to the Grinch. Made me smile and is such a great visual. :) I especially like the addition of almonds to this one though. I never would have thought to add those. Have a great rest of the weekend Kelly!
These look amazing. I love stuffed peppers and these are so pretty.
ahhh i love this dish – simple, healthy, delicious! wild and basmati rice = delicious combo! totally add this to our #ricelove bloghop if u would like so others can find this too!
http://juniakk.blogspot.com/2011/09/rice-bloghop-veggie-kimbap-with-korean.html
Those look wonderful! I recently made some stuffed peppers too, but I’ll have to try your version.
Oh wow, what a dish! My hubby would love this.
:-) Mandy