Spooky Stuffed Peppers for Halloween

On the menu this Hallow’s Eve – Frankenstein guts or Jack-o-lantern innards? Which gruesome grub will you choose?

These peppers may look frightening, but they’re stuffed full of goodness; each pepper contains a nutritious, balanced meal. Plus they’re a lot of fun to make and eat!

• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 onion, diced 
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 500g lean beef mince (or meat-free alternative)
• 2 x 500g passata 
• 250g pouch cooked grains of choice (rice, quinoa, bulgur wheat etc) 
• 3 orange peppers 
• 3 green peppers 
• 6 pitted black olives 
• 120g grated mozzarella 

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan 
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. 
3. Add the beef mince and cook until browned. 
4. Stir in the passata leave to simmer for 5 minutes. 
5. Add your grains of choice and stir until well combined. Leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes. 
6. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200 C and start to prepare the peppers. 
7. Cut off the tops of the peppers, setting aside. You could cut these straight or try cutting them in a zig zag fashion. 
8. Use a metal spoon to deseed the peppers. 
9. Using a small knife, carefully carve faces into the orange peppers to look like a jack-o-lantern. For the green peppers, carefully carve Frankenstein faces and olive-sized holes on either side of the face. 
10. Place a black olive in the holes on either side of the green peppers to create Frankenstein’s bolts. 
11. Split the mince filling equally between the six peppers and fill. 
12. Top the filling of each pepper with 20g grated mozzarella and replace the tops of the peppers. 
13. Place the peppers standing up on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

Each stuffed pepper contains: 

Energy: 292kcal 

Fat: 9.1g 

Saturated fat: 3.4g 

Carbohydrate: 25.3g 

Sugars: 12.6g 

Fibre: 7.2g 

Protein: 23.1g 

Salt: 1.12g