Stuffed Piquillos Food

STUFFED PIQUILLO PEPPERS

Steps:

• For the stuffed piquillo peppers: Pat the peppers with a paper towel to remove any excess brine. Trim the tops of the peppers.
• In a medium bowl, combine the goat cheese, manchego, chives, honey, lemon zest and juice, paprika, 2 tablespoons of the reserved piquillo brine and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and white pepper. Mix together with a rubber spatula until well combined and smooth.
• Put the mixture in a piping bag or a zip-close bag with a corner snipped off, and pipe it into the peppers, stopping 1/4 inch from the top. Refrigerate until 20 minutes before serving.
• For the herb vinaigrette: Bring the sherry vinegar, honey and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir a few times until the honey and salt have completely dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the golden raisins, and let cool completely, about 15 minutes. Stir in the chives, mint, parsley and 3 tablespoons of the reserved piquillo brine.
• To serve: Spread half of the vinaigrette over a serving plate and arrange the stuffed peppers on top. Spoon the remaining vinaigrette over the peppers. Garnish with the almonds and serve immediately.

PIQUILLO PEPPERS STUFFED WITH CHORIZO AND MANCHEGO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large saute pan set over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and chorizo. Cook until well browned, 7 to 8 minutes, breaking up the chorizo with the back of a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add the garlic, carrots, celery, shallots, salt, pepper and chile flakes, and saute until the onions become translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool slightly. Add half of the Manchego, the breadcrumbs, half of the parsley and the cream cheese. Stir well to mix everything evenly. Using a medium spoon, carefully stuff each of the piquillo peppers with the filling. Arrange the stuffed peppers on a baking sheet and sprinkle with remaining Manchego. Bake in the center of the oven until the cheese melts and is slightly bubbly around the edges, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a platter and garnish with the remaining chopped parsley to serve.

STUFFED PIQUILLO PEPPERS

Steps:

• Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until done. Stir in chopped parsley, black pepper, salt, and tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Spoon about 3 tablespoons rice mixture into each piquillo pepper. Place stuffed peppers in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with Manchego cheese.
• Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until peppers are thoroughly heated. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired.

STUFFED PIQUILLO PEPPERS

Steps:

• To make the sauce: In a blender, drop in the tomatoes and garlic and blend until well chopped. Add the olive oil, white wine, and salt and blend until finely pureed; set aside.
• To make the stuffing: In a medium sized pot half filled with boiling water, boil the dried cod for about 10 minutes until rehydrated. Drain and put the codfish into a blender. Add the white wine, garlic, parsley, and salt and blend everything together. Then, in a medium sized bowl, whisk together the milk and flour. Add this mixture to the codfish mixture in the blender and puree until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes. Heat a medium skillet over medium-low heat, pour in the codfish stuffing mixture, and cook just until the mixture is heated through. Put the mixture into a medium sized bowl and let it cool before stuffing the peppers.
• To stuff the peppers: With a small spoon, carefully stuff about 1/2 teaspoon of the codfish mixture inside each pepper. It should fill the pepper's cavity but should not be falling out. Continue until all the peppers have been filled.
• To finish the dish: In a large nonstick skillet on medium-low heat, add the sauce for the peppers. Then very carefully place each pepper in the pan and cook for about 15 minutes, or until heated through. Gently take each pepper out of the pan and place on a serving platter. Spoon the sauce over the peppers and garnish with 2 tablespoons chopped parsley.

STUFFED PIQUILLO PEPPERS WITH CHORIZO AND MANCHEGO

Steps:

• Coat a saute pan, over medium heat, with olive oil. Add the onion, season with salt, to taste, and toss in the crushed red pepper. Saute the onions until they are soft and very aromatic, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 to 3 more minutes. Stir in the chorizo and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the bread crumbs. Let the mixture cool. When cool, add the Manchego and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Stuff the peppers with the filling and arrange them on a sheet pan. If there is extra stuffing, press a little on top of each of the peppers. Put the peppers in the oven to warm through, about 8 minutes.
• While the peppers are in the oven, combine the arugula, almonds and scallions in a large bowl. Dress the salad with sherry vinegar, big fat finishing oil and salt, to taste. Check for seasoning and divide the salad between 4 serving plates.
• Remove the peppers from the oven and arrange 2 peppers on each salad. Serve while the peppers are warm.

TUNA-STUFFED PIQUILLO PEPPERS

Steps:

• Drain the tuna and put it in a medium mixing bowl. Use a fork to break tuna into large flakes and push to one side of the bowl.
• Put capers, parsley, mint, celery and onions on the other side of the bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add red-pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil, then stir the mixture to coat tuna well.
• Use a teaspoon to fill each pepper with some of the tuna mixture.
• Arrange stuffed peppers on lettuce leaves on a platter. Garnish with quartered or halved hard-cooked eggs sprinkled with salt. Serve at cool room temperature.