📋Italian Vegetarian And Vegan Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

📋Italian Vegetarian And Vegan Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

These Italian stuffed peppers are a traditional Italian recipe called Peperoni imbottiti, in Neapolitan dialect Puparuoli 'mbuttunati. This peppers recipe has two versions: one filled with breadcrumbs and the second with fried eggplants. As many Italian vegan recipes, they were born as the poor version of meat-stuffed peppers.

Course Side Dishes

Cuisine Italian

Diet Vegetarian

Keyword Stuffed bell peppers, stuffed peppers, vegetarian stuffed peppers

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings people

Calories 365kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

6 peppers
2 tablespoon olive oil to grease the baking pan

Stuffed with bredcrumbs

3 tablespoon tomato sauce
6 tablespoon breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon raisin
15 black olives
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
2 tablespoon chopped basil leaves
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt omit if you are using anchovies
3 anchovies stored in salt Optional

Stuffed with eggplants

3 eggplants
3 tablespoon homemade tomato sauce
1 tablespoon capers
10 black olives
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoon olive oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preparing the ingredients

Place a tablespoon of capers in a strainer and rinse under running water.
1 tablespoon capers, 1 tablespoon capers
Soak the raisins in water for 30 minutes. Drain the water before using them
1 tablespoon raisin
OPTIONAL: Rinse the anchovies under running water to eliminate the salt. Remove the bone and fins from the anchovies fillets.
3 anchovies stored in salt

Eggplant stuffing

Peel the eggplants and cut them into large slices
3 eggplants
Then cut them into chunks
Pour the olive oil into a pan on high heat
5 tablespoon olive oil
When the oil is hot, fry the eggplants
Stirring them until they brown
Remove them from the pan, place them in a large bowl, and season them with salt
1 teaspoon salt
In the same oil you fried the eggplants, pour the tomato sauce
3 tablespoon homemade tomato sauce
Let it simmer for a few minutes to absorb the flavor from the oil
Pour the tomato sauce over the eggplants and stir
Add the pitted olives cut into rings, and the capers
1 tablespoon capers, 10 black olives

Breadcrumbs stuffing

In a pan warm up some olive oil
3 tablespoon olive oil
Stir fry the breadcrumbs until they become golden brown
6 tablespoon breadcrumbs
Place them in a bowl and add capers, raisins, olives, basil, and anchovies if you decide to use them
1 tablespoon raisin, 15 black olives, 1 tablespoon capers, 2 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley, 2 tablespoon chopped basil leaves
Stir until they are all combined

Stuffing the peppers

Grease a baking pan with olive oil
Arrange the peppers in the pan to make sure they fit
6 peppers
Cut the top of the peppers
Remove the seeds from the tops and from inside
Fill the peppers with the breadcrumbs mix
Place a tablespoon of tomato sauce before placing the top back on the peppers. It will keep the breadcrumbs moist
3 tablespoon tomato sauce
Fill the rest of the peppers with the eggplants
Place them in the pan, covering them with the tops of the peppers
Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes at 355 F - 180 C
They can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature

Video

Notes

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.
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.
Anchovies 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.

Nutrition