Middle Eastern Stuffed Peppers | culture: the word on cheese
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Middle Eastern Stuffed Peppers


Middle Eastern Stuffed Peppers

Katie and Richard Chudy
Tangy goat cheese is studded with toasted pistachios and spiced heavily with vibrant Middle Eastern flavorings—tart sumac, sweet-piquant Aleppo pepper, assertive dried mint—to create a decadent filling for grilled Spanish piquillo peppers. A cinch to pull together, these light appetizers will go quickly at your next outdoor shindig. You will need 24 small wooden skewers or toothpicks for this recipe; soak them in warm water for 20 to 30 minutes prior to use.

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup pistachios
  • 11 ounces fresh goat cheese room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon sumac
  • 1 teaspoon dried mint
  • ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • Kosher salt to taste
  • 12 jarred piquillo peppers drained and dried

Instructions
 

  • Heat gas or charcoal grill to medium-high at least 30 minutes.
  • In a small skillet over medium- low heat, toast pistachios until lightly golden, about 5 to 7 minutes; make sure they don’t burn. Cool slightly, then chop coarsely.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the chopped pistachios with goat cheese, sumac, mint, Aleppo, and lemon zest. Season with salt.
  • Spoon about 2 tablespoons of goat cheese–pistachio mixture into each piquillo pepper, being careful not to tear or puncture peppers. Pierce tops of each pepper with 2 skewers or toothpicks to seal shut.
  • Grill peppers, flipping after a couple of minutes, until skins are charred lightly and cheese is warm, about 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately.

Chefs Katie and Richard Chudy

Katie and Richard Chudy are a couple (literally) of professionally trained chefs. Katie Chudy created The Small Boston Kitchen and contributes to Eater Boston. Her first cookbook, Superfood Sandwiches (Fair Winds Press), is due out in June 2015. Richard Chudy is the founder of Boston Burger Blog, and his first cookbook, American Burger Revival (Union Park Press), came out in May. They are both professionally trained chefs and together they own The Skinny Beet, a personal chef and catering company.

Photographer Evi Abeler

Evi Abeler is a food and still life photographer based in New York City. She helps art directors, cookbook authors and designers to communicate the love, passion and thought that goes into every project and creates modern, yet classic images. Her clients in advertising, publishing, hospitality and retail include Food & Wine Magazine (which named her Digital Food Award Winner), Harper Collins Publishing and Whole Foods Markets.

Stylist Laura Knoop

Laura Knoop is a New York City-based food stylist with a studio in Harlem.

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