Tangy Pickled Peppers Stuffed with Herbed Goat Cheese
These stuffed pickled sweet peppers made a delightful one or two-bite snack. Set out a tray of these, and your guests will love you forever. I made some slight adaptations in seasoning to this base recipe for pickled peppadew peppers. The filling is all mine. This recipe makes enough for 12 small peppers. Scale up accordingly.
187grams(3/4 cup) vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
150gramsgranulated sugar
125grams(1/2 cup) water
1small sweet onion, chopped
½teaspoonwhole peppercorns
1teaspoondried Herbes de Provence
4whole thyme sprigs
1/4-1/2teaspoonred pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
For the Herbed Goat Cheese
4ozmild chevre
pinch of kosher salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper.
½teaspoonHerbes de Provence.
minced pickled peppers, about 1/3 cup or so (See Instructions)
Instructions
To Brine
Combine the water and salt and stir a few times. Set aside.
Wash your peppers and cut off their stem end. Carefully pull out the seeds and any white membranes. These peppers have very few seeds, so it's easy to get rid of them all.
Stir the brining liquid again until all the salt has dissolved.
Submerge the peppers completely in the brine. Use a small dish as a weight to keep them submerged.
Cover and let them sit at room temperature for 8-10 hours or overnight.
To Pickle
Remove the peppers from the brine. Rinse and drain. Check inside the peppers to make sure there are no whole peppercorns lurking in there. Set aside convenient to the stove.
Combine all the pickling ingredients except the pepper flakes in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a hard boil and add the peppers and pepper flakes.
Cook for 1-2 minutes only.
Carefully put the peppers in a clean glass container and then pour the pickling liquid over the top. You may need to weigh the peppers down with a small plate. You want all the peppers completely submerged in the liquid.
Let cool and refrigerate for at least 48 hours.
When time to stuff, cut off any longer peppers so that all of the peppers are no more than 1 1/2" long. Reserve the "pickled scraps" for the filling.
For the Herbed Goat Cheese
Mince up the reserved "pickled scraps."
Mix all the filling ingredients together until well combined.
Stuff each pepper with some of the goat cheese mixture. You should have just enough to completely fill your 12 peppers as long as you trimmed them all. I filled mine with a spoon, but you can also pipe the filling. Just make sure your tip has a wide enough opening that your minced peppers don't get stuck.
Store in the fridge, covered, but let them come to room temperature before serving so the filling is soft and creamy.
Notes
I am not a canner, so I'm not sure if these are suitable for canning as written. If you'd like to preserve these for a taste of summer in the middle of winter, please find a reliable recipe from a trusted canning site. For these guys, I'd say they'll be fine in the fridge, submerged in their liquid, for 2-3 weeks. Once you stuff them, go ahead and enjoy them the same day.