Fire-Grilled Stuffed Palermo Peppers With Feta, Herbs & Bacon
Long, sweet Palermo peppers are made for the fire. Their thin flesh softens quickly, their sugars catch at the edges and the whole pepper takes on the smoky character of the coals. Here they are filled with a herby Fairview feta mixture, wrapped in streaky bacon and cooked until the peppers blister, the bacon crisps and the center turns rich and creamy.
lets get
cooking
- 12 sweet Palermo peppers
- 200 g feta cheese
- 100 g cream cheese, softened
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 12 rashers streaky bacon
- Olive oil, for brushing
- Prepare a fire and allow the flames to settle until you have steady medium coals.
- Mash the feta and cream cheese together until smooth but still slightly textured.
- Add the spring onions, chives, parsley, garlic and lemon zest. Season with black pepper and mix well.
- Using a small knife, make a slit lengthways down each Palermo pepper and carefully remove the seeds, keeping the peppers as intact as possible.
- Fill each pepper generously with the cheese mixture.
- Wrap each stuffed pepper with a rasher of streaky bacon, winding it around the pepper to help hold the filling in place.
- Lightly brush with olive oil and place on the braai grid over medium coals.
- Grill for 20-25 minutes, turning regularly, until the peppers are soft and blistered and the bacon is golden and crisp.
- Rest for a few minutes before serving warm from the fire.
Notes & Tips
- For a firmer filling, chill the stuffed peppers for 15-20 minutes before wrapping them in bacon.
- Chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes can be added to the cheese filling.
- Indoors, roast at 200°C until the peppers are tender and the bacon is crisp.
- The peppers are best warm, but they are also good at room temperature on a sharing table.
This recipe is created by Mynhardt Joubert. Mynhardt Joubert is one of South Africa's most beloved celebrity chefs. He won the reality cooking show, 'Kokkedoor' in 2013 and works as ambassador chef for KWV's Cathedral Cellar Kitchen in Paarl in the Western Cape. He has published two cookbooks and is a champion of ingredients indigenous to South Africa, carrying childhood memories in every mouthful.
