Stuffed Bell Peppers

*Vegan Ⓥ

As a young teenager, my mother used to send me to the local newsagent to pick up her order of Bon Appetit magazines. My mother is a fantastic cook, the star of her Cordon Bleu Class; so for her to order and save these magazines told me they must be quite superior.

Now, as an adult, I have acquired most of my mom's collection, trying the recipes every chance I get.

I had to make my first vegan meal for a vegan guest of ours and this recipe was one of many for the evening! It is taken from the 1995 edition of 'The Mediterranean - a Delicious Voyage of ' and proved to be a delicious success!

Serves 8:

Ingredients:

8 medium-size green bell peppers
1/4 Cup olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts (*I added 4 tablespoons)
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 canned crushed tomatoes with added puree (*I added 1/2 a tube of puree)
1/4 cup dried currants ( *I added 1 cup & 1/2 of currants)
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 ground allspice

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350F

Oil the glass baking dish (13x9x2 inch).

Cut 1 inch off stem end of peppers and reserve for caps. Remove seeds from peppers. Put aside.

Heat oil in a heavy, large saucepan over medium heat. Add your onions and pine nuts, stir until onions are translucent. This will take about 8 minutes.
Reduce heat to low. Add rice, stir for 5 minutes. Add water, tomatoes, puree, currants, mint, dill, salt and allspice.
Cover to simmer until liquid is absorbed. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

Now, fill each pepper with 1/2 cup of rice. Top with reserved caps. Place in prepared dish. Oil large piece of foil. Cover dish with foil.
Bake until peppers are tender, about 1 hour (no more).

*I have altered the amount of some ingredients (shown) and changed the preparation method slightly, as it seemed to work better for me this way.

A guaranteed mouth- waterer!