Bank Holiday BBQ: Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers and Root Veg Tortilla

For this years August Bank Holiday we planned a big family bbq at Scott’s parents house. Parties with the in laws and the extended family are always so much fun, we put up a big marquee and lined it with fairy lights and bunting and at the end of the garden is a bar with working beer pulls and enough room to get a cosy crowd and a barrel of ale. Scott was behind the bar most of the night pulling pints and making sure everyone was happy and I was in charge of making sure the vegetarians (there were three of us) had some nice food to eat.

The Marquee. I love that we pulled all of the pot plants inside the marquee, it gave it a lovely garden feel and made it look so pretty!

The Pirate Bar “Captain Fork Handles”….Four Candles? Nah I said Fork Handles

Rules of the bar

We scattered tables and chairs around and filled them with party foods and jugs of pimms so that everyone was in reach of some good food and alcohol 🙂 The night soon got into full swing party mode so some good substantial food was needed to soak up all that pimms and ale.

I decided for the vegetarians I would do Hugh’s River Cottage Veg Root-veg Tortilla because it is so pretty and I could make it in advance then just  put it out on the table for everyone to help themselves. This went down really well with the veggies and the carnivores and was all gone by the end of the night.

Summery tortilla made with root veg, courgette, beetroot, dill, mint and eggs

I also wanted to make something which would use the actual BBQ so that we weren’t missing out on that lovely Summers BBQ experience. I decided to make peppers stuffed with rice, feta, sundried tomatoes and herbs. I actually followed my recipe for Rice, Feta and Sundried Tomato Filo Pastry Parcels but instead of wrapping the filling in filo pastry I stuffed it into peppers and grilled them on the bbq.

The stuffed peppers prepared to be put on the BBQ

It was very easy to prepare the peppers, I used a sharp knife and cut around the stalk in a circle and then pulled the stalk to lift the lid out. This pulled most of the seeds out with it so all that was left to do was cut the seeds off from the lid and remove any pith from inside the pepper. I stuffed the peppers with the pre made rice mix and then tied them with string so that they would not fall apart when being cooked.

Just before putting them on the BBQ I soaked them in some water so that the string would not catch fire or burn. We cooked them on a separate plate rather than directly on the coals mainly to keep them separate from any meat but also so that the filling would cook thoroughly and evenly without the outside burning.

BBQ Stuffed Peppers

 

Makes 8 Peppers

1 Onion – finely diced
2 Garlic cloves – Crushed
8-10 sun-dried Tomatoes (from a jar) – Roughly chopped
100g Feta Cheese
bunch Mint
bunch Parsley
large handful Spinach – wilted
300g Cooked Brown rice
8 Peppers
Salt and Black Pepper

Fry the onion in a little spray oil for a few minutes then crush the garlic into the pan and fry for a further 2 minutes. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and herbs roughly then add them to the pan with the crumbled feta, wilted spinach and the cooked brown rice, stir to mix it all together well, season, and then take the pan off the heat and put to one side.

Using a sharp knife pierce the top of the pepper and cut out a lid around the stalk (leave about an inch of pepper around the stalk). Pull the stalk to remove the lid from the pepper and then remove any left over seeds and pith. Cut the seeds away from the lid.

Stuff the rice into the peppers and then place the lid back on to the pepper. Secure with string and run under the tap to wet the string then put in the fridge untill ready to cook.

Once the bbq has heated up place them on a cooler part of the grill and turn frequently untill the pepper is cooked and the filling is hot.

Serve straight away.

Inside the BBQ peppers – don’t eat the string!!