Roasted Peppers Stuffed With Chick Pea And Eggplant Purée And Mushrooms Recipes

ROASTED PEPPERS STUFFED WITH CHICK-PEA AND EGGPLANT PURéE AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425° F.
• Trim and quarter mushrooms. Halve tomatoes lengthwise. In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté shallot, stirring, until softened. Reduce heat to moderate and cook garlic, stirring, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
• Halve bell peppers lengthwise through stems and discard seeds and ribs. Season pepper shells with salt and pepper and in a large baking pan bake in upper third of oven 10 minutes.
• Spoon chick-pea and eggplant purée evenly into shells, smoothing tops. Mound mushroom mixture onto center of purée and sprinkle with pine nuts. Bake stuffed peppers in upper third of oven until heated through, about 15 minutes. (Alternatively, grill pepper shells, skin sides up, on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals 7 to 10 minutes, or until slightly charred. Transfer shells to a work surface and stuff them as above. Grill stuffed peppers, covered, until heated through, about 5 minutes.)

CHICKPEA STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Heat a wide heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat for 10 seconds or so, then add the onion and fry, stirring occasionally, until well-softened.
• Tip in the spinach, sprinkle over the curry powder, raise the heat and stir, toss and fry until the liquid has mostly cooked out of the spinach and it is collapsed but still moist. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Add the garlic, tomatoes, vegetable or tomato puree, breadcrumbs, chickpeas and peppers.
• Season with salt and black pepper and mix well; it should be reasonably moist but not dripping. Stuff the filling firmly into the pepper halves, mounding up on top.
• Bake in a low-sided dish at 400F for about an hour, turning the dish around once and lowering the heat towards the end if the peppers are getting too browned. This length of time makes the peppers deliciously soft - if you like them firmer, reduce the time.

CHICK-PEA AND EGGPLANT PURéE

Steps:

• Cut eggplant into 3/4-inch-thick slices and sprinkle both sides with salt. Arrange eggplant in a large colander set over a bowl and let stand 30 minutes to drain.
• Preheat broiler.
• Rinse eggplant slices and pat dry with paper towels. Broil eggplant on a rack of a broiler pan about 4 inches from heat until deep golden, about 6 minutes on each side. When eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel off skins, scraping all flesh from skins and discarding them.
• In a food processor pulse eggplant with remaining ingredients until just puréed and season with salt and pepper. Purée may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, covered.