Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 180 g cooked basmati rice
• 150 g baby spinach, wilted
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 15 g spring onion green tops, sliced
• 400 g ricotta
• 40 g grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 30 g pine nuts, toasted (optional)
• 400 g tomato passata
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 large peppers, tops removed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan (210°C conventional). Slice the tops off the peppers, pull out the seeds and white pith, then drizzle inside and out with olive oil and stand them upright in a shallow baking dish; snug enough that they hold each other steady.
2. Warm the tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Tip in the passata with a generous splash of water; about 60ml; along with the oregano, then season with salt and pepper. The water lets the passata break down properly; bare passata simmered alone tastes of heated tin, not tomato. Simmer gently for 6–8 minutes until it darkens slightly and loses its raw edge. Spoon a thin layer across the base of the baking dish.
3. Wilt the spinach in a dry pan or microwave for 1–2 minutes until it fully collapses. Tip onto a clean tea towel and wring it out hard; water you leave in here ends up loosening the filling later. Roughly chop.
4. In a bowl, fold together the ricotta, cooked rice, Parmesan, spring onion tops, lemon zest and chopped spinach. Season generously with salt and plenty of black pepper, then taste; ricotta is mild and will absorb more salt than you think.
5. Stuff each pepper firmly, pressing the filling into the corners with the back of a spoon so there are no air pockets, then mound a generous heap on top. Spoon the remaining passata around the peppers so it comes about halfway up the sides; this becomes the sauce you'll spoon over at the end.
6. Bake for 30–35 minutes until the peppers have slumped slightly, the filling is set with a burnished golden top, and a skewer slides into the pepper flesh with no resistance. If the tops are colouring too fast before the peppers soften, loosely tent with foil for the last 10 minutes.
7. While the peppers bake, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over low heat, shaking constantly, for 2–3 minutes until pale gold and fragrant. Watch them; they go from gold to bitter in seconds. Tip straight onto a plate so they stop cooking.