Yemista Piperi (Banana Peppers Stuffed with Ricotta and Mint)

Earlier this week I posted a recipe for Vegetarian Stuffed Tomatoes topped with Bechamel Sauce and mentioned the many and varied versions of this Greek dish known as "Yemista". Tony and I are planning on creating a cheese-filled yemista of sorts for one of our Meat-free/Carb-free week meals next week so I thought I should do a quick test run with some home-made ricotta to make sure it held up to the task.

The ricotta performed very well indeed, perhaps a little too well... to the point of causing a scientific phenomenon known as Exploding Pepper Collapse. I think my choice of vegetable to stuff had a lot to do with the unfortunate result here. I've stuffed long, thin peppers before, but not with self-combusting cheese.

Obviously the use of a self-standing vegetable like a plump tomato or a sturdy capsicum would avoid the gravitational tendency of ricotta cheese that, given the opportunity, will simply remove itself from its surrounds. And that's exactly why I conducted this experiment. I now know not to use sideways-lying banana peppers for our recipe next week!

Before explosion – beautiful, neatly stuffed peppers

After explosion – not one bit of stuffing left inside the peppers

They might have been a bit of a visual fail but they still tasted amazing. It's a really, really simple filling but oh so flavoursome. Mint and ricotta are just magic together.

Yemista Piperi (Banana Peppers Stuffed with Ricotta and Mint)

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 small red or green self-standing capsicums (or banana peppers if you'd like to recreate the Exploding Pepper Collapse phenomenon)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 400g fresh ricotta
• 3 tablespoons mint, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Fry the onions in 3 tablespoons of oil until golden.
2. Meanwhile, cut the tops off capsicums and set aside. Using a paring knife, carefully remove seeds and membranes from the capsicums (or banana peppers).
3. Place cooked onions, ricotta, mint, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Pour the remaining olive oil into a high-sided baking dish and roll capsicum (or banana pepper) shells in oil to coat.
5. Stand capsicum shells upright and stuff with cheese mixture, (or lay banana peppers flat) then cover with capsicum tops.
6. Bake in oven for 1 hour, or until capsicums are starting to brown.
7. Serve with a simple tomato and cucumber salad mixed with fresh shredded mint and extra virgin olive oil.