Roasted Goat Cheese Peppers (Printer-Friendly)
Sweet mini peppers filled with herbed goat cheese, roasted until tender and golden for a crowd-pleasing appetizer.
# What You'll Need:
→ Vegetables
01 - 16 mini sweet peppers
→ Filling
02 - 6 oz fresh goat cheese (chèvre)
03 - 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
04 - 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
05 - 1 garlic clove, minced
06 - 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
07 - 1 tsp lemon zest
08 - 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
09 - 1/4 tsp sea salt
→ Garnish
10 - 1 tbsp pine nuts (optional), toasted
11 - Fresh herbs, to serve
# How to Make It:
01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
02 - Wash the mini peppers. Slice each pepper lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes, keeping the halves intact.
03 - In a mixing bowl, combine goat cheese, chives, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, black pepper, and salt. Mix until smooth and well blended.
04 - Fill each pepper half generously with the goat cheese mixture using a spoon or piping bag.
05 - Arrange the stuffed peppers on the prepared baking sheet.
06 - Roast in the preheated oven for 18–20 minutes until the peppers are tender and the cheese is slightly golden.
07 - Remove from oven. Optionally, garnish with toasted pine nuts and additional fresh herbs. Serve warm or at room temperature.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The contrast between the slightly charred, sweet pepper skin and the tangy, creamy goat cheese filling is the kind of flavor combo that makes people close their eyes when they bite into one.
- They look effortlessly elegant on a plate but honestly come together with almost zero fuss, which makes them my secret weapon for impromptu gatherings.
02 -
- Overfilling the peppers seems generous but the cheese melts and spreads, so a modest mound is actually perfect and saves you from a messy baking sheet.
- Toasting the pine nuts in a dry skillet for just two minutes before garnishing releases oils that transform them from bland to buttery and fragrant.
03 -
- Choose peppers with relatively flat bottoms so they do not tip over and dump their filling onto the parchment paper, which I learned after an entire batch rolled sideways in the oven.
- Letting the goat cheese sit out for thirty minutes before mixing is the single step most people skip and the one that makes the biggest difference in how silky the filling becomes.