Last week I bought a big bag of mini sweet peppers. I was mainly using them for veggie wraps and sandwiches, but that barely put a dent in the bag. I didn’t want them to go to waste, so I started thinking about ways I could use a lot of them in one fell swoop, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks: mini stuffed peppers!
I made haste to the fridge and pantry so I could start planning my filling. After a quick glance, I noticed I had everything on hand to make the same tofu-ricotta we used for our stuffed shells recipe. I’m not sure why that was the first thing that stood out to me, but it intuitively seemed like a good match, so that’s what I went with.
I was rather proud of the final outcome. The savory filling was the perfect contrast to the sweetness of the peppers. Later in the evening, I had a few left over in the fridge, so I smothered them in hot sauce, wrapped them up in a tortilla with tomatoes and onions, and popped it in the oven for about 5 minutes at a high temperature… that sh!t was pretty awesome. Enjoy!
I figured a muffin tin would be the best way to get the peppers to stand up in the oven, and it worked out quite well.
Oven-roasted mini sweet peppers stuffed with a creamy tofu-ricotta filling.
Ingredients
- 1 bag mini sweet peppers
- 1 package firm tofu, drained and pressed
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 ºF.
- Add tofu, yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, and spices to a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Set aside in fridge.
- Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds.
- Stuff the peppers with the tofu-ricotta filling using a pastry bag or small spoon.
- Arrange the peppers in a muffin tin so they are standing upright, as shown in the photo above.
- Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, then remove and cool for 5 min before serving.
Notes
The salt, pepper, and seasoning measurements for the ricotta should be viewed as a guide but not concrete. I recommend seasoning to taste. I added a little extra salt and Italian seasoning to mine.
Stuffing the peppers was easier than I expected, but some of the skinny ones were tricky. I had to use my finger to push the filling down. In retrospect, I should have used a pastry bag.
I did not par-boil the peppers, because I did not want them to become soft and mushy. I wanted them to retain their firmness so they could be eaten as a finger food, and I think it worked out well that way. I think if I had par-boiled them, like traditional stuffed-peppers, they would have been floppy and sloppy.
You can serve this recipe raw if you want. I think they taste a little better cooked, but they also taste great raw, and technically there is no reason you have to cook the peppers or the filling.
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