Beef Mince Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 150g cooked long-grain rice
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1 small courgette, grated
• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 75g mature cheddar, grated
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• 4 peppers, tops removed
• Dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan. Stand the cleaned peppers upright in a baking dish so they won't tip — a snug fit keeps them stable while they bake.
2. Heat the garlic-infused oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Pat the beef mince dry and season generously with salt and pepper before it hits the pan — water means steam, and steam means no browning.
3. Brown the mince in two batches. All at once and the pan crowds, water comes out, and you've boiled the meat instead of browning it. You want crisp, caramelised edges and no pink — about 6–8 minutes total. Return all the meat to the pan.
4. Add the grated carrot and courgette and cook 3–4 minutes until softened but still holding texture. Scatter in the smoked paprika and oregano and stir for 30–60 seconds until fragrant — bloom the spices in the oil so they taste of themselves rather than dusty from the jar. The garlic-infused oil is already doing its work, so watch the heat and don't let the spices catch and turn bitter.
5. Pour in the chopped tomatoes with a splash of water to loosen — the liquid breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin. Add the cooked red lentils and simmer for 6–8 minutes until the sauce is thick but moist and clings to the back of a spoon. Taste, season, taste again. Adjust now — at the end, not at the table.
6. Off the heat, stir through the cooked rice and most of the grated cheddar so the filling is cohesive and slightly creamy from the melting cheese.
7. Spoon the filling into the peppers, pressing down firmly to pack every corner. Scatter the remaining cheddar over the tops and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the peppers are tender to the tip of a knife and the cheese is golden and bubbling at the edges.
8. Rest for 5 minutes so the filling settles and stops scalding the roof of your mouth. Plate the peppers, scatter the chives and parsley over the molten cheddar tops, and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over at the table — the acid lifts the richness of the cheese and the beef.