Moroccan cuisine is a real feast for vegetarians as it has a tradition of meat-free dishes. In addition, fresh herbs and spices play a central role, meaning that the food is rich and tasty as well.
This recipe for stuffed peppers uses couscous, Morocco’s national dish. Often classified as a grain, it is actually closer to pasta as it is made from the starchy inner part of durum wheat. Combined with sweet raisins, fragrant spices and served with a fresh mint and yogurt sauce, this dish is bursting with color and flavor. Easy to make, it is a meal in itself.
Moroccan-style stuffed Peppers
Serves 4.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 oz / 100 g pine nuts
- 4 large red peppers
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 heaped tablespoons raisins
- 7 oz / 200 g couscous
For the Mint Sauce:
- ½ oz / 15 g fresh mint leaves
- 5 oz / 150 g thick low-fat yogurt
- 1 cucumber
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
- Pre-heat the oven to 390 degrees F / 200 degrees C. Heat a frying pan over a medium flame and dry fry the pine nuts until golden, about 4 minutes. Toss regularly to avoid burning.
- Cut off the bottom of each pepper (this is the end with the stalk) and take a thin slice off the top so that the peppers have a flat surface to stand on.
- Remove the seeds and white pith and discard. Cut any flesh from the bottoms you have just sliced off into small chunks.
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the pepper pieces for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the spices.
- Add the raisins, couscous and just enough boiling water to cover the mix. Leave to stand for 4-5 minutes. Add a little more water if the couscous is not quite soft.
- Stir in the pine nuts, then stuff the peppers with the mixture and put them in a lightly oiled oven dish.
- Put the dish in the oven and cook for 20 minutes or until the peppers are just soft and starting to wrinkle around the edges.
- While the peppers are cooking, make the yogurt and mint sauce.
- Put four mint leaves to one side and finely slice the rest. Mix with the yogurt and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the cucumber into sticks about 3 inches / 6 cm long.
- Divide the cucumber and peppers between four plates. Garnish the peppers with a teaspoon of yogurt sauce and decorate with a mint leaf.
- Serve the rest of the sauce with the meal in a small dish.
If you like Moroccan food, or are a vegetarian looking for more meat-free North African recipe ideas, try this hearty chickpea and pumpkin tajine (stew) or these colorful beetroot and lentil salads.
Colorful Couscous-stuffed Pepper
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