2021 Vuelta - Stage 3: Santo Domingo de Silos to Espinosa de los Monteros
A final day in the Burgos area of northern Spain. Today, the riders started once more south of Burgos, but they traveled about 60 miles north of the city and ended up on the fabled Picón Blanco, a Category 1 climb on a narrow pass. Tricky, grueling stuff. Today’s stage-specific dish, however, is not so tough and comes together in a jiff as I skip the needless step of baking the assembled peppers.
I often make this meal, albeit a Mexican version, for my girls as a fun weeknight option. It has everything: protein, rice, veggies...and spice! Not too much spice, just a nice warm kick to brighten any mundane weeknight. Typically, I make this with beef, and more often ground turkey to keep it light. Since we’re in northern Spain, I’m using their typical protein: ground pork and instead of diced tomatoes with green chilis, I used fire-roasted tomatoes and the preferred peppery spice of Spain, cayenne. Also, I made some with red and green peppers and I must say this will be my newly preferred pepper for the Spanish version as it complements the filling very well.
Stuffed Peppers
Whenever I cook with peppers, I typically always look for those with three lobes that meet at the bottom of the pepper, as they are sweeter. However, when you make a dish like this, it is important to pick peppers with 4 lobes so they can sit flat on your plates after you stuff them. I used a delicious southern Spanish, wine-soaked, semi-soft goat cheese from The Drunken Goat which I found at my local Wegmans.
4 red peppers, each with 4 lobes (see note above)
Extra-virgin olive oil and butter
Chicken stock
1 box of Spanish rice (I prefer Near East)
14 oz. can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 Spanish onion, diced
1 lb ground pork
1.5 tsp paprika
1 tbsp dried oregano
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Shredded Drunken Goat cheese (see note above) or your favorite shredded cheese
Slice the tops off of the peppers (reserve) and remove the seeds and carefully pull away the white interior off the walls of the pepper. Season lightly with salt. In a large pot fitted with a colander, steam the peppers cut-side down, for 10-12 minutes. Carefully remove with tongs and place cut-side up, and sprinkle some shredded cheese on the bottom of the pepper.
Prepare the boxed rice according to the instructions, except substitute chicken stock for water and reduce the liquid content by a half-cup. You will make up for this by stirring in the can of diced tomatoes and their liquid, along with the rice, when the stock comes to a boil. Finally, reduce the cooking time by about 5 minutes, but keep the rice covered until ready to use.
While the rice is cooking, heat 2 tbsp evoo in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion and diced tops of the reserved pepper tops, until softened. Then, increase the heat to medium-high and add in the ground pork, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks. Season the meat lightly with some Kosher salt and ground black pepper. Once the meat is nearly cooked, stir in the paprika, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Once the meat is fully cooked, stir in the garlic until fragrant, about a minute. Finally, stir in the cooked rice mixture, tossing everything together and cook for a few minutes, until the moisture has been fully absorbed.
Using a spoon, carefully fill the peppers, top with more cheese and serve. ______________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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