Pepper Pie

This morning I was cruising through some of my favorite blogs, and I noticed that Lee Zukor, from Simple, Good and Tasty was wondering what to do with the plethora of peppers that have been arriving in the CSA boxes the last few weeks.  I had been planning to make a roasted pepper and white bean chili of sorts and dashed him off a few ideas for the soup. After surveying the contents of my crisper, I decided instead to make a dish that I came up with a few years ago. It’s my second favorite thing to do with an abundance of peppers – the first being pepper stew with beans.

Notice I have many sweet red peppers and a few jalapenos. I only used one of the really hot jalapenos, but also had a few mildly hot reds that made it into the pie. The dish came out with just a little zip – perfect. In the past when I have used only sweet peppers I add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper to liven it up a bit.

This dish I make is another one pot creation. It’s simple and delicious, but not particularly beautiful.  I do use TVP, but have, through research, started to question the healthfulness of soy. It seems that the jury may still be out on that one, so while my family has cut back on soy consumption the last few years, it’s still an occasional part of our diet. Any thoughts?

And now, for what you’ve been waiting for…I present the illustrious and delicious, Pepper Pie! The answer for an abundance of autumnal peppers.

Pepper Pie – Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-2 cups TVP – sprinkled on the bottom of a baking dish 9x13ish
• 2 Tbs. oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. whole brown mustard seed
• 1 Tbs. whole cumin seeds
• 5 – 8 peppers, diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 oz. feta
• 4 whole fresh tomatoes
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 2 cups grated provolone, mozzarella or cheddar to top

Directions:

1) Begin by pureeing the tomatoes, feta and cilantro in a food processor.

2) Next, with oil in a saute pan and over low heat, slowly caramelize the onions. When they begin to brown on the edges, toss in the garlic for a quick saute. Don’t burn the garlic.

3) Shortly after you add the garlic, add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Keep everything in the pan moving until you hear the mustard seeds begin to pop. This is all happening on low heat.

3) Add the peppers and mix well with the other ingredients already in the pan. Turn off the heat. The peppers do not need to be totally cooked as they will be in the oven for a good while

4) Pour the pepper saute over the TVP in the bottom of a baking pan.

5) Cover the peppers with the tomato, feta, cilantro mixture.

6) Cover the dish with grated cheese.

7) Bake at 375 degrees until the cheese is melted.