Goat Cheese and Pistachio Stuffed Mini Peppers
I'm going to start this off by saying this recipe is super simple. I'm going to follow that statement up with, I totally messed it up. And I had company coming over, so I had to improvise. These small peppers are easy to over roast. And with two small children, I have to say my attention was redirected and I over cooked them. Not pictured, is the rest of the goat cheese and pistachio filling. But I put them into a ceramic baking dish, drizzled honey over the top and served it as a dip. It was a hit! Honestly, more so than the original pepper blog post. But you know what? That’s what cooking is about. Learning, failing and succeeding. Adjusting what you were trying to do and find out what works for you and everything else that is going on around you.
The original recipe is as follows:
2 bags mini bell peppers
8 oz log of goat cheese
4 oz of softened cream cheese
3 oz of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of diced pistachios
2 tbs of granulated garlic
1. I chose to skewer the peppers and grill them. The original intent was to grill them for about 4-5 min on each side. You want just enough blackening that you can peel the top layer of the skin off. If you have a gas stove, you can also roast them on the stove top for the same amount of time.
2. While the peppers are resting mix together the cream cheese, goat cheese, heavy cream. (You could substitute half and half or whole milk. The point is to add hydration to the cheese.) Once this mix is fairly homogonous, add the crushed/diced/whatever pistachios and the granulated garlic. After it is evenly mixed together, set it aside.
3. Hopefully the peppers have cooled by now. Cut the tops off and peel the outermost blackened layer of skin. Now you can stuff the generously with the goat cheese and pistachio mixture.
4. Place them in the oven at 350 degrees and cook for 8 minutes.
If you’re having an off day like me and want to use the goat cheese as a baked dip, then cook it at 350 degrees for 15 min. Don’t forget to drizzle it with honey. Serve it with bread, crackers, pita chips or anything else you can think of.
Enjoy!
