Roasted Goat Cheese Peppers (Printable Version)
Sweet mini peppers stuffed with herbed goat cheese and roasted until golden for a crowd-pleasing appetizer.
# What You Need:
→ Vegetables
01 - 16 mini sweet peppers
→ Filling
02 - 6 oz fresh goat cheese (chèvre)
03 - 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
04 - 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
05 - 1 garlic clove, minced
06 - 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
07 - 1 tsp lemon zest
08 - 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
09 - 1/4 tsp sea salt
→ Garnish
10 - 1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted (optional)
11 - Fresh herbs, to serve
# Directions:
01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
02 - Wash the mini peppers thoroughly. Slice each pepper lengthwise and carefully remove the seeds and membranes, keeping the halves intact.
03 - In a mixing bowl, combine the goat cheese, chives, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, black pepper, and salt. Mix until smooth and well blended.
04 - Fill each pepper half generously with the goat cheese mixture using a spoon or piping bag.
05 - Place the stuffed peppers on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them evenly.
06 - Roast in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes until the peppers are tender and the cheese is slightly golden on top.
07 - Remove from the oven. Garnish with toasted pine nuts and additional fresh herbs if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- The contrast of charred sweet pepper skin against tangy melted goat cheese is genuinely addictive.
- They look like you tried far harder than you actually did which is the best kind of cooking.
02 -
- Do not overfill the peppers because the cheese expands as it warms and will spill over the edges making a mess.
- Letting the filled peppers rest for five minutes before serving lets the cheese set slightly so they hold together better.
03 -
- A ziplock bag with the corner snipped off works perfectly as a disposable piping bag for the cheese filling.
- Toasting the pine nuts in the same oven during the last three minutes of roasting saves time and uses heat you already have running.