We were invited to our friends Pete and Annette's home for a Mexican-themed dinner tonight. We were told we could bring anything we wanted, so in addition to the tres leches cake I made, Zach prepared some delicious chimichurri beef-stuffed peppers.
Earlier this week, I bought 3 pounds of padron peppers from my favorite vendor at the farmer's market. Padrons are usually harvested and eaten when they are between 1-2 inches long. The padrons I got were 4-5 inches long. Apparently the older padron peppers get, the hotter they are. The ones we used for the stuffed peppers were capable of setting your mouth on fire. They were downright brutal. I should have known. My fingers were tingling from scrapping seeds. But that is not to say you should skip making this recipe. Make it, but choose a different pepper. Bell peppers would be a great choice, or if you want something with a little heat, use poblano peppers instead.
Ingredients
1/2 lb ground beef
1 cup firmly packed flat Italian parsley
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cooked rice
12-15 poblano peppers
parmesan cheese (optional)
salt to taste
Directions
To make chimichurri, blend parsley, garlic, olive oil and salt in a food processor.
Prepare peppers by chopping off tops and scrapping out the seeds. If you are using hot peppers, please wear gloves. Tingly fingers that burn for hours on end are no joke.
Cook ground beef in a skillet. Add a little salt to taste. Drain off excess grease.
Mix together cooked rice, ground beef, and chimichurri.
Add a little parmesan cheese if you wish.
Stuff peppers with rice and beef mix.
If you wish, you can secure the top of peppers with toothpicks.
Broil peppers for 5 minutes on one side. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Peppers should look blistered and smell delicious when they are done.
p.s. Dinner was fun. Thank you Pete and Annette for being such good hosts and for suffering our merciless peppers. We'll bring something milder next time :)
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