Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers (no cheese)

Vegetarian stuffed bell peppers are a traditional Italian recipe called Peperoni imbottiti, in Neapolitan dialect Puparuoli 'mbuttunati. There are two versions of this recipe, one filled with breadcrumbs and the second with fried eggplants. As there is no cheese, they are also vegan. They were born as the poor version of meat-stuffed peppers. The stuffings are packed with veggies and classic Mediterranean flavors: basil, parsley, raisin, capers, and olives.

These vegetarian peppers are perfect for buffets and Summer parties as they can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature.

You can combine them with similar recipes made with summer vegetables: Spiedini recipes, Italian baked ratatouille, and vegetarian baked eggplant pasta.

For a meat version of these stuffed peppers, you can find petit farcis or stuffed round zucchini. You can also stuff them with rice as I do in the Italian rice-stuffed tomato.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How to serve them
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• 📋Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers
• FAQ

Ingredients

These ingredients are used in these two recipes, summer vegetables and local herbs and spices.

• Bell peppers: it is best for this recipe to use small round peppers like bell peppers. You can pre-cook the peppers in a hot oven to peel them by burning off the skin. I do not do it in this recipe as I like my peppers to be firm. In Italy, we often remove the skin of the peppers as we find it difficult to digest, although it is unnecessary.
• Eggplants: do not buy large eggplants as they tend to have a lot of seeds. Look for medium size and long eggplants, as in the picture above.
• Tomato sauce: use natural canned tomato sauce or homemade canned tomato sauce. I never buy tomato sauce already seasoned with herbs.
• Breadcrumbs: I recommend using stale bread or buying breadcrumbs from a bakery. Packaged breadcrumbs are fine for coating but are flavorless and too dry for stuffing. I make a large quantity of breadcrumbs from stale bread and freeze them. You can read more about it in my article: Once a Month Freezer Meal Prep To Save Time
• Basil: use fresh basil leaves.
• Capers: I prefer to buy my capers stored under salt. I do not trust the quality of the oil used to store them. Capers stored in salt last longer, and they just need to be rinsed under running water before use.
• Olives: the recipe uses black olives, but you can also use green ones. Make sure they are pitted.
• Raisins: this is a typical ingredient used in the South of Italy, a sign of middle-eastern cuisine influence. The contract of the salted capers and the sweet raisin make this stuffing unique. Italian fun fact: recipes that use raisins usually do not have cheese.
• Olive oil: Always use good quality olive oil. You can use extra virgin, but it is not necessary for cooking.
• Salt: used in moderation if you are using capers stored under salt.
• Anchovies (optional): they are often used as a seasoning in many Mediterranean recipes. The briny process removes their fishy taste and substitutes it with a unique umami flavor, much better than just salt. It is not a necessary ingredient if you want your stuffed peppers to be vegetarian. However, if you are flexible about vegetarian ingredients, it is worth trying them.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

To make these two recipes, we will first prepare the two stuffings, then make the peppers.

Preparing the ingredients

If you use capers and anchovies stored in salt, you must first rinse them in water to remove the excess salt.

*Anchovies are optional but recommended

1. Rinse the anchovies under running water to eliminate the salt.
2. Remove the bone and fins from the anchovies fillets.

Eggplant stuffing

Hint: Eggplants are no longer bitter as they used to be; therefore, you do not need to drain them into salt before cooking to remove the bitterness.

Breadcrumbs stuffing

Hint: Anchovies are optional, but they add a lot of flavors, so I recommend them

Stuffing the peppers

Hint: If you want to remove the skin of the peppers, you can grill them in a very hot oven before you open them. Once the skin is burned, it will peel easily; however, if the peppers cook too long, they may break. That is why the oven should be very hot, so the skin burns but the flesh doesn't soften.

To roast the pepper to peel the skin off without softening the flesh, you can check the recipe: Italian roasted peppers.

How to serve them

These stuffed peppers can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature. Like many baked vegetable recipes, they taste better the next day because the flavors have the time to combine.

They can be served as a starter, a side dish, or a vegetarian/vegan meal.

These two recipes are a great option to serve at dinner parties or buffets as they can be prepared the day before and do not need to be cooked or warmed up before serving.

Vegetarian stuffed peppers are easy to bring at a putlock. A large casserole of 20 bell peppers can easily feed a crowd.

Variations

Bell peppers can be stuffed with many other ingredients. You can find on the blog many other ideas:

• Stuffed with meat: Petit farcis: peppers, tomatoes and zucchini
• Round zucchini stuffed with meat
• Stuffed with rice and cheese: Italian rice stuffed tomatoes

Equipment

You don't need any special equipment to make this recipe:

• A regular frying pan
• A baking pan with high edges that fits all the peppers

As a rough guideline, 7 bell peppers will fit into a 9 in - 22 cm baking pan with 2.2 in - 5 cm edges high.

Storage

These stuffed bell peppers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. Like many recipes with baked vegetables, they taste better the next day as the flavors have time to combine.

They are suitable for the freezer; however, I always avoid freezing vegetables as they get mushy when defrosted.

If you have too many leftovers, freeze them, but I recommend not making extra to purposely store them in the freezer.

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FAQ