Turkey & Spinach Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 500 g turkey mince
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 150 g cooked brown rice
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 150 g baby spinach, roughly chopped
• salt and black pepper
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 large red or yellow peppers, tops sliced off and seeds removed
• 60 g mozzarella, torn
• Dressed rocket salad with shaved parmesan, to serve
• Crusty ciabatta, to serve
• Fresh basil, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C fan. Pat the turkey mince dry with kitchen paper and season generously with salt and pepper — water means steam, and steam means no browning.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large stainless or cast iron frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey in two batches, 4–5 minutes each, breaking it up with a spoon until you have deep golden crisp edges. All at once and the pan crowds, water comes out, and you've boiled the meat instead of browning it. Lift each batch out as it's done.
3. Drop the heat to medium and cook the onion in the same pan for about 5 minutes, until translucent and starting to catch at the edges. Scrape up the brown bits stuck to the base — that's the flavour you just built.
4. Add the garlic, smoked paprika, oregano and chilli flakes. Bloom the spices in the oil for 30–60 seconds until fragrant — raw spices taste dusty, bloomed spices taste of themselves. Watch the garlic; pale gold is the goal, burnt turns the whole pan bitter.
5. Return the turkey to the pan and pour in the chopped tomatoes with a good splash of water — the liquid breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin. Simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened and glossy.
6. Stir through the spinach until just wilted, then take the pan off the heat and fold in the cooked brown rice. Taste, season, taste again. Adjust now — at the end, not at the table.
7. Arrange the hollowed peppers snugly in a baking dish so they hold each other upright. Spoon the filling into each one, pressing it in firmly so they're packed to the brim.
8. Sit the pepper tops back on or leave them open, whichever you prefer. Pour 100ml of water into the base of the dish to create steam, then scatter the torn mozzarella over the top of each pepper.
9. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes, until the peppers are tender at the tip of a knife and the cheese is bubbling and golden in patches.
10. Lift the peppers onto plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and scatter the torn fresh basil over the top.