Oven-Charred Tomato-Stuffed Peppers | Everyday Dorie

Dorie is surprised how much she enjoys the process of making these oven-charred tomato-stuffed peppers. My surprise has more to do with the reactions from my family. Everyone seems to like the dish a lot. At the same time I get a bunch of suggestions on how I can improve it.

First thing first, let’s cover the process. Stuff the halved peppers with a bread-crumb mix, a generous amount of fresh herbs and as many small tomatoes you can fit into the red and yellow bell peppers. What’s unusual is how Dorie proprigates the “oil-and-herb landscape (in the pan that) seasons the bottoms of the peppers and adds another layer of aromatics to the dish.” Furthermore, there are more layering to keep it interesting.

The fillings inside the bell pepper include: bread crumbs packed with bright flavors from anchovies, lemon, herbs and seasonings. The cherry tomatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper, go onto the top layer.

After an hour of roasting in a 425°F oven, edges of the bell peppers and the cherry tomatoes are charred. They look colorful to the eyes, and flavorful to the palates — in every nooks and crannies.

Instead of using breadcrumbs for the bottom layer, I use panko. I get some stares and puzzled looks because no one can figure out what they are. My family members are not fans of bread crumbs, so no one is missing them. However, the panko crumbs look sadly soggy underneath the load of cherry tomatoes where crunch is preferred.

The suggestions for substitution range from quinoa, farro to bulgur. The conversations relating to what to use instead of bread crumbs go on for quite a while; I get plenty of ideas. Surely, these are all good suggestions I’d put to the task next time I make the stuffed peppers.