9 Things to Do with Bell Peppers

Peppers are confusing things for me.  Because there’s chilli pepper and bell peppers, there’s black pepper and white pepper.  Peppercorns.  All this pepper stuff and half of them aren’t even from the same plant!  Then there are loads of different kinds of peppers and by now I’m a bit lost.  But there’s one thing for sure – once you sort them out, there are loads of things to do with peppers!

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Common types of pepper

All this pepper confusion is down to one man – Christopher Columbus.  Back when he travelled to America, he knew the black pepper plant, Piper nigrum, which was the plant behind the prized pepper used on dishes across Europe.  When he tried a new plant on his travels, it had a hot flavour that reminded him of pepper, so he called them peppers too – but they are a completely different family of plants!

Some of the most popular types of pepper (apart from the black one that makes you sneeze) include:

• Chilli pepper – over 150 varieties each with their own flavour, used in Mexican dishes
• Chipotle – smoke-dried jalapeno pepper
• Bell pepper – most commonly used ‘other’ pepper which comes in green, yellow, orange and red but doesn’t produce capsaicin, the chemical that gives other peppers their heat
• Poblano pepper – mild in flavour often stuffed, fried or used in mole sauces
• Jalapeno pepper – mid-range in terms of heat there are lots of uses and are often seen on nachos or in cheese dips
• Serrano – cousin to the jalapeno and several levels hotter, often used in Pico de Gallo
• Cayenne pepper – hotter than serrano, they are not native to Mexico but are often used in Mexican dishes as well as dried in flakes
• Habaneros pepper – one of the hot ones with a citrus-like flavour, often used in salsa and hot sauce

Bell Pepper

The pepper that we are looking at here today is the bell pepper, Capsicum annum.  These come in a range of different colours, most commonly red, green, orange and yellow but also apparently purple.  They are native to Mexico, Central and South America and have been imported to Europe since the late 1490s.

Bell peppers are a good source of Vitamin C containing 97% of the recommended daily amount in a 100 gram portion.  They also have more vitamin C in the red varieties than the green ones.  They even have a little Vitamin B6 and minerals such as calcium, iron, manganese and potassium in them.

Things to do with bell peppers

There’s no shortage of things to do with peppers of all kinds but to keep it simple we are working mostly with bell peppers here.

Main courses

Instant Pot Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 4 large green peppers (cut and deseeded)
• 1 lb. ground lean beef or turkey
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 1 can French onion soup
• 2 x ¼ cup water
• 1 ½ cups uncooked rice
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil (or any cooking oil)

Instructions

1. Set your Instant Pot to Sauté mode.
2. When the cooker is hot, add oil to the pot, and then add diced onions. Sauté onions until brown and caramelized.
3. Add ground meat, salt and pepper. Brown meat, breaking it into small pieces.
4. Add a French onion soup, rice and water. Mix. There’ll be some liquid from the meat already. Be careful not to add too much water to the mixture so the rice won’t get too wet.
5. Cancel sauté mode. Cover cooker, making sure to lock the lid. Set steam release to seal.
6. Set cooker to high pressure for 8 minutes.
7. Quick release after cooking is done. Stir rice & meat mixture.
8. Stuff green peppers with mixture.
9. Remove extra mixture from the cooker. Add about ¼ cup water to cooker.
10. Return stuffed peppers to the cooker, set cooker to steam or 4 minutes on high pressure.
11. Quick or natural release after cooking time.

Vegetable Quesadillas

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini cut into cubes
• 1 broccoli head chopped
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 4 small button mushrooms chopped
• 4 10 inch flour tortillas
• ½ cup grated Cheddar cheese
• ½ cup grated Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Put the zucchini, broccoli, pepper, carrot, onion and mushroom in a steamer over an inch of boiling water and cook until tender, 2-6 minutes then drain.

Put two tortillas side by side on the baking sheet and layer the cheddar, vegetables and Monterey Jack cheese then add another tortilla.

Put in the oven or broiler until lightly browned.  Turn and cook the other side then serve.

Cheddar Quiche with Smoked Bacon & Red Peppers

This is a simple recipe to add a bit of something extra to a cheddar and bacon quiche.  It is ideal to make ahead or even make a few and freeze then defrost and reheat as needed.  You can also change or add to the cheese and even swap the bacon for my favourite, pancetta.  See the full recipe.

Side and light dishes

Spicy Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ medium yellow onion, diced small
• 1 medium green bell pepper diced small
• 1 medium jalapeno finely chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 large tomatoes seeded and chopped
• ½ t. dried Mexican oregano
• ¼ t. smoked paprika
• ¼ – ½ t. crushed red pepper flakes
• ¼ c. water
• 2½ T. fresh lime juice
• 2-3 T. fresh cilantro finely chopped

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion and peppers become soft, around 4-5 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, Mexican oregano, smoked paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, and water. Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another 4-5 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Once slightly cool, puree mixture with an immersion blender, leaving slightly chunky, or transfer to a regular blender or food processor and pulse a couple of times until just blended.
4. Transfer salsa to a bowl and stir in fresh lime juice and cilantro. Season with additional salt and black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately or cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. Enjoy!

Tomato and red pepper pasta salad

Ingredients

• 12 plum tomatoes finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 red pepper seeded and chopped
• 20 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 110ml (4 fl oz) olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 500g pasta of your choice

Directions

Stir together the tomatoes, peppers, basil and garlic then drizzle with olive oil and season.  Mix well and stand at room temperature for about an hour to let the flavours mix.  Cook the pasta as per instructions then drain and toss with the sauce.

Creamy red pepper soup

Ingredients

• 25g (1 oz) butter
• 4 red peppers chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 750ml (1 1/4 pints) chicken stock
• 100ml (4 fl oz) double cream
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Melt the butter in a pan then add the peppers, onion and garlic, sauté for 5-10 minutes until tender.  Add the chicken stock, stirring and simmer for 30 minutes on a low temperature.  Move to a blender and blend until smooth.  Run through a sieve and return to a pan then mix in cream and salt and pepper, heat through for 5-10 minutes then serve. 

Alternatively, you could make this in a soupmaker, add the chicken stock first then the other ingredients apart from the cream.  Set to cook on a creamed soup setting then sieve.  Return to the warm soupmaker to add the cream, stir gently and serve.

Dips and sauces

Chickpea and red pepper dip

For this simple dip, all you need is a can of chickpeas around 400 grams, 1 garlic clove, a squeeze of lemon juice, 2 red peppers, a handful of fresh coriander and pitta bread.  Roast the peppers after removing the seeds and chopping them.  Then put the chickpeas in a blender with the other ingredients and blend into a paste.  Serve with toasted pitta bread.

Red pepper hummus

Hummus is a popular dip and this one adds some red pepper.  It is similar to the first dip but has a slightly different flavour and a touch more kick from the chilli powder.

Ingredients

• 400g can of chickpeas
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 red peppers roasted
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp chilli powder

Directions

Rinse and drain the chickpeas and add them to the blend with the garlic and salt and pepper.  Remove seeds from the roasted peppers, cut them into pieces and add to the blender with the chilli, lemon and olive oil.  Add more seasoning if needed and blend.  Serve with a drizzle of olive oil, Italian breadsticks and some radishes and celery sticks.

Harissa

Harissa paste can be used for lots of different dishes and is popular in Moroccan cuisine.  It can also be served as a dipping sauce.  To make 250grams, you need 5 tbsp coriander, cumin and fennel seeds, 22 garlic cloves, 1 red onion, 20 red chilis, 1 large red pepper and 100ml olive oil.

Roast the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds in a pan for a few minutes then add to a blender and grind into a powder.  Add the garlic, onion, chilli, pepper and olive oil to the blender and mix to a paste.  Put the paste in a shallow pan and cook for 15 minutes until a similar consistency to jam then add the spices and 2 tsp salt. 

The mix will keep in the fridge for a week or up to 2 months if frozen straight away.

Favourite pepper recipes

This is just a few of the things to do with peppers – while the smell of them isn’t one of my favourite things I find they don’t taste as strong when in dishes, especially with things like garlic around.

What’s your favourite pepper recipes?  How do you like to eat them?  Pop some ideas in the comments below!