Middle Eastern Vegan Stuffed Capsicum With Rice
Deliciously wholesome, this stuffed capsicum with rice is a vegan Lebanese recipe. Baked tender capsicums filled with rice, lentils and vegetables in a herbed tomato sauce.
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 405kcal
Ingredients
- 8 medium - large Capsicum (bell peppers)
Stuffing
- 1 cup Brown lentils drained (if using dry, make sure they are cooked)
- 1½ cups Basmati rice
- ½ small Onion finely diced
- ½ small Carrot finely diced
- 2 cloves Garlic crushed
- 2½ tablespoon Parsley finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon Mint fresh (finely sliced) or ground
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro (Coriander) finely sliced
- ½ cup Pine nuts dry roasted
- 1 med Tomato finely diced
- ½ tablespoon Salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon Cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 3 cups Water
Sauce
- 4 tablespoon Tomato paste heaping
- 4 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 tablespoon Ground coriander
- 2 cups water use leftover rice juice, if more is needed add water
- ½ teaspoon Cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Salt or to taste
Optional Sauce for Dish
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
Preparing capsicum for stuffing
- Cut the bell pepper tops off, in line with where the middle of the core would be* (see note). Deseed and take out any membrane. The tops will be used as lids. Finely dice the membrane/core to combine this into the rice stuffing in step 4.
Stuffing
- Over medium - high heat, dry toast pine nuts until golden brown. Set aside.
- In a saucepan add oil, onion, carrot, garlic and sweat until the onion is translucent. Add lentils and stir through well. Add rice, sliced cilantro (coriander), mint, parsley, tomato and salt & pepper, combined well. Add water and cook until rice is parboiled, approx. 6 minutes. Do not open the lid for another 2 minutes.
- Strain rice into a bowl and keep the leftover juice. Combine pine nuts and bell pepper membrane through the rice. Set both rice and juice aside.
Sauce
- Whisk together tomato paste, olive oil, ground coriander, water (use leftover rice juice to make up the 2 cups, if more is needed use water), salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place the capsicum snugly into a casserole dish. Fill them up with the filling leaving a 1cm (⅓") gap from the rim to allow the rice to swell whilst baking.
- Pour sauce into each bell pepper (capsicum) until it is just under the top of the rice. Pour the rest into the casserole dish. Ensuring it is at least 1cm (⅓") deep. If required top-up with a mixture of water and tomato paste. Place the lids onto each pepper.
- Cover the casserole dish and bake in a preheated oven 180C (360F) for 45-60 minutes, until rice and peppers are cooked. Stand for 10-15 minutes with the lid on before serving warm.
Video
Notes
Loosely placing the filling into each capsicum will ensure the rice cooks evenly
Baking times may differ (between 45-60) depending on the size of the capsicums, check at the 45 minute mark by piercing the skin of the capsicum, if easily pierced, they are cooked.
Serve individually with some of the sauce from the bottom of the casserole dish.
Nutrition
Calories: 405kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 829mg | Potassium: 820mg | Fiber: 13g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 5994IU | Vitamin C: 217mg | Calcium: 59mg | Iron: 4mg