Roasted Red Peppers Stuffed With Fennel Recipes

FRENCH STUFFED RED BELL PEPPERS WITH FENNEL AND GOAT'S CHEESE

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 120C/240F/Gas 1.
• Cut the peppers in half, discard the core & seeds and also trim away the white membrane too.
• Grease a Le Creuset roasting or ovenproof dish.
• Cut the onion & fennel bulb into 6 wedges each. (Keep the the delicate green fronds from the fennel bulb & put to one side.).
• Put the onion wedges, fennel wedges & cushed garlic into a mixing bowl & add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & black pepper - mix well.
• Divide the onion & fennel wedges between the 6 pepper halves, arranging them neatly within the peppers & season well.Pour the remaining oil & vinegar dressing over the top of them.
• Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the peppers are soft & just tinged brown.
• Remove the stuffed peppers from the oven & increase the oven temperature to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Sprinkle the chopped sun-dried tomatoes over the top of the peppers.
• Slice the goats cheese & arrange over the top of the stuffed peppers; return them the oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted & bubbling.
• Remove from the oven, leave to cool slightly and serve them warm or at room temperature with the cooked dressing drizzled over the top of them.
• Garnish with the green fronds kept from the fennel bulbs.
• Serve as a starter, 1 pepper half per person with a side salad or as a main course - 2 pepper halves per person with bread & salad.
• These can also be served as a very colourful & elegant vegetable accompaniment!

ROASTED FENNEL AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Place the fennel, peppers, onion and garlic in a 15x10x1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with salt, pepper and rubbed sage. Toss to coat., Bake, uncovered, at 425° until tender, 20-25 minutes, stirring twice. Garnish with fresh sage if desired.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS STUFFED WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Slice each pepper in half lengthways, cutting right through the green stalk end and leaving it intact; though it won't be eaten, it adds much to the look of the thing. Remove all the seeds. Place the pepper halves on the baking sheet, then drain the tomatoes (you don't need the juice), and divide them into eight equal portions, placing each portion inside a pepper half. You can watch how to prepare peppers by clicking on the Cookery School Video on this page. Now pare off any brownish bits of fennel with your sharpest knife and cut the bulbs first into quarters and then again into eighths, carefully keeping the layers attached to the root ends. Now put them in a saucepan with a little salt, pour boiling water on them and blanch them for 5 minutes. Then drain them in a colander and, as soon as they're cool enough to handle, arrange two slices in each pepper half. Sprinkle 1 dessertspoon of olive oil over each one, using a brush to brush the oil round the edges and sides of the peppers. Next, lightly crush the pepper berries, coriander and fennel seeds with a pestle and mortar or rolling pin and bowl, sprinkle these evenly all over the fennel and peppers, and finish off with a grinding of sea salt. Then bake the peppers for about 1 hour on a high shelf in the oven until they are soft and the skin wrinkled and nicely tinged with brown. After removing them from the oven, sprinkle the lemon juice all over, cool and serve garnished with a little finely chopped spring onion or as they are.