Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

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This recipe which comes from David Tanis at the NY Times takes a bit of advanced planning but is well worth the effort. The piquillo peppers are traditionally grown in northern Spain. They come in jars already roasted and peeled. If you can’t find them locally at your favorite specialty market, you can order them from Amazon. You will also want to purchase a good quality canned tuna from Spain or Italy that is packed in olive oil. This is also something you can find on Amazon. Once you have your ingredients, this dish comes together quickly and is quite delicious and presents beautifully. They make a great appetizer, but you may find that you eat enough of them to have as your lunch!

MAKES: 4 Servings
PREP/COOK TIME: 40 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (6- to 7-ounce) jar high-quality Spanish or Italian tuna

• 1 tablespoon small capers or roughly chopped large capers

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

• 1 teaspoon chopped mint

• ¼ cup celery, tender center stalks and leaves

• ½ cup finely diced red onion or chopped scallions

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon pepper

• ½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, or to taste

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 10 piquillo peppers, from a jar

• Hard-boiled eggs(optional)

 DIRECTIONS

1. Drain the tuna and put it in a medium mixing bowl. Use a fork to break tuna into large flakes and push to one side of the bowl.

2. Put capers, parsley, mint, celery and onions on the other side of the bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add red-pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil, then stir the mixture to coat tuna well.

3. Pat the excess oil from the outside of the peppers. Use a teaspoon to fill each pepper with some of the tuna mixture.

4. Arrange stuffed peppers on a platter. Garnish with quartered or halved hard-cooked eggs sprinkled with salt, if desired. Serve at cool room temperature.

   NOTE: You can find the peppers on Amazon if not available at your favorite specialty market. You can also purchase the tuna at Amazon as well.