Who’s your favourite famous vegetarian? In Canada we have Pamela Anderson, Alannis Morisette, Shania Twain. There is Bridgette Bardot, Albert Einstein, Paul McCartney, Natalie Portman, Mahatma Ghandi, Da Vinci, Gaudi! Greece has too many vegetarians to name. There are many out there in the world and the list in growing. I don’t think I’ll ever convert to total vegetarianism but I have reduced the amount of meat I consume in my diet.

It’s healthier, I’m treating myself better, enjoying a more diversified diet and feeling better in the process. One of my favourite Greek dishes is Stuffed Peppers with rice and ground beef but I also enjoy the meatless version containing just rice and lots of herbs. This dish really shines in the summer when the tomatoes are ripe and sourced from your garden or farmer’s market. Our home in Greece (and here in Canada) always has an array of fresh herbs (which we use daily in our cooking).

Spring is here and the ingredients needed for stuffed peppers are available so I think it’s appropriate to introduce my family’s version of meatless Stuffed Peppers. Ideally very ripe tomatoes are passed through a box grater then mixed in with the rice and herbs. A good bottle of tomato puree or can of crushed plum tomatoes will work in a pinch! Once again, I adore the combo of parsley, mint and dill. The peppers’ natural sweetness combined with the fresh herbs, tomatoes, good olive oil all get absorbed by the rice – making them very flavourful.

If there was ever a time to use good quality extra-virgin olive oil, it is here. Every week, I see “sales” or “specials” on extra virgin olive oil in newspaper inserts. “$6.99 for a litre of extra-virgin olive oil” is the usual pitch. Upon closer look at the bottle, once sees the oil is merely “packed” in the country of origin. Where did the olive oil come from, is it 100% olive oil, how old is the oil and what kind of olives were used?

I not going to get preachy but just sayin’, pay closer attention to the labels on the groceries you buy and that includes olive oil. Over here, it’s Greek olive oil all the way: family-run operations, usually single estate plots of olive groves, extra-virgin olive oil pressed, filtered and bottled in Greece. The beauty in Greek cuisine is in it’s simplicity, relying on sourcing quality ingredients.

Stuffed Peppers (Meatless Version) -γεμιστες πιπεριες (λαδερα)

(serves 4-6)

12-14 Cubanelle & red Shepperd’s peppers

2 large onions, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3-4 large ripe tomatoes, passed through a box grater (or 1 cup plum tomatoes, pureed)

1 cup extra-virgin Greek olive oil

2 cups Arborio rice

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

2-3 tsp. sea salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

hot water

Pre-heated 375F oven

1. Pour 1/2 cup of olive oil in a skillet and add your diced onions, garlic and stir and simmer for 5-7 minutes to sweat until the onions are soft and translucent. Now add your tomato puree and simmer for another five minutes. Add the rice, the herbs (dill, parsley, mint) and stir in then take off the heat. Add your salt and pepper and stir in and allow to cool.
2. In the meantime, rinse your peppers and carefully cut stem end off the pepper. Remove the ribs and seeds inside the peppers (use fingers, knife or spoon) and find a deep baking dish or roasting pan that fill your peppers very tightly.
3. Using a spoon, stuff your peppers (push the filling down with your fingers if need be) and place the stem on the pepper and lay sideways in your roasting pan. Repeat and stuff your remaining peppers (tomatoes are great to stuff as well).
4. Pour the remaining olive oil over all the peppers plus enough hot water to come up halfway up the peppers. Sprinkle coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper and place in your pre-heated oven (uncovered) for 70-90 minutes or until the peppers are golden-brown on top, rice is cooked (go on, open a pepper and taste-test). Serve with good homemade crusty bread...that sauce is gold!

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© 2007-2011 Peter Minakis