These Moroccan Stuffed Romano Peppers are super-simple to make, but incredibly tasty, with harissa-braised chickpeas and lemony giant couscous.
Sweet, roasted romano peppers, lemony giant couscous and harissa-braised chickpeas... these Moroccan Stuffed Peppers make a surprisingly simple supper that looks great and tastes even better.
Stuffed peppers are such a vegan cliché aren't they? I must admit that my heart sinks when I go to a restaurant and they are the only vegan option... often stuffed with dry and flavourless rice or cous cous.
But fear not.... these little beauties are a long way from that. Fragrant harissa, zingy lemon and fresh coriander mean they are packed with the flavours of Marrakesh. And what's more, they are easy to make too.
What you need to make your stuffed Romano Peppers
Ingredients
Romano peppers are the long, pointy ones now quite widely available in supermarkets. They work well for these stuffed peppers because their flesh is quite a bit thinner than a standard pepper, so they can be roasted quickly without turning soggy, but hold their shape. But of course you could use standard peppers if that's what you have to hand, just roast them for a little longer than the recipe suggests.
US readers might know Romano Peppers better as Ramiro peppers or Sweet Pointed peppers.
Giant couscous Do remember that there's a big difference (quite literally!) between couscous and giant couscous - the former can be cooked just by soaking in boiling water or stock, but the latter needs boiling in a saucepan like rice or pasta.
If you can't get hold of giant couscous, it is fine to use standard couscous instead, BUT please don't follow the recipe instructions or you'll end up with a sticky, soggy mess (as some of my recipe testers realised!). Just follow the cooking instructions on the packet then add the lemon, olive oil and baby spinach.
Tinned chickpeas I hardly ever soak and boil my own chickpeas as tinned ones are just so good. Rinse them well before using.
Harissa paste Harissa is one of those ingredients that immediately transports my tastebuds for a mooch around Marrakesh. I actually used Rose Harissa* which is even better, fragrant and exotic, but the 'normal' stuff is fab too, so do use whatever is lurking in your cupboard.
Lemon A zing of fresh lemon makes such a difference to this recipe. If you like, you could use two preserved lemons, finely chopped, instead (or as well as!) for a really authentic Moroccan flavour.
Fresh coriander The final flourish - a really lovely fresh herb. You could add a little fresh mint too if you like.
Variations on your Moroccan Stuffed Romano Peppers
As an afterthought, looking at the pictures, I should have included some orange-juice soaked raisins to the couscous for an extra Moroccan twist - why not give it a go?
Or if you find stuffing the pepper halves too much of a faff, you could slice the peppers before roasting, then just toss everything together and serve it as a couscous dish instead, or even a side salad for a BBQ or Moroccan feast.
For more quick and easy vegan recipes take a look at my latest book Vegan in 15.
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Moroccan Stuffed Romano Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 romano peppers
- 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
- 100 g wholewheat giant couscous
- 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- handful baby spinach
- ½ red onion
- 400 g tinned chickpeas
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp harissa paste (or rose harissa)
- 200 ml boiling water
- 1 tsp stock powder
- fresh coriander
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350ºF / Gas Mark 4. Halve the peppers lengthways, brush with a little oil and place on a baking tray. Roast them for 10 minutes or until softened but still holding their shape.
- Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to the boil with the stock powder. Tip in the giant couscous and boil for 6-8 minutes until just cooked through.
- Drain and return it to the saucepan, the squeeze over the juice of the lemon, and add the 2 tbsp olive oil and baby spinach leaves. Stir well and season well with salt and black pepper.
- Heat a little oil in a frying pan, peel and finely chop the red onion and add to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to the pan, along with the tomato purée, harissa paste, boiling water and stock powder.
- Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced to a thick, sticky sauce. Taste and season as required.
- To assemble, pile the giant couscous into the pepper halves, then top with the chickpeas. Return to the oven for 3-4 minutes to heat through, finely chop the coriander and sprinkle over the peppers, then serve immediately.
This was lovely thank you. I chopped the peppers up fried them with the onion and made it as a one pot dish served it with salad and hummus. Delicious flavours and very quick and easy. Sorry I can’t work out how to add a photo.
(First meal of the 4 week meal plan - if the rest are this good I will be pleased!)
That's a great idea, so glad you enjoyed it! x
Um, this looks incredible! I love that you used giant cous-cous, I think it’s so much more delicious! I’m definitely going to try cutting the peppers up and just throwing it all together at the end – speeds things up and tastes just as good, I’m sure!
Thanks ????
Yes I often just chop up the peppers too, but if I'm making it for friends and family and want it to look a bit more impressive I serve it like this! Thanks for stopping by x
This stuffed Romano Peppers looks so BEAUTIFUL with full flavours!! I will definitely gonna make this!!! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Kate. I do love the look of these. Romano peppers are a particular favourite of mine, and I love Moroccan-themed dishes especially. I get my peppers at a local market in North London, where they always seem to be available. I look forward to trying this dish.
Richard.
I love how much sweeter romano peppers are especially when baked. These look like my ideal dinner, so many delicious flavours. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
I love the look of the different textures in this dish bet it tastes great
Even though I used to live in Morocco, the first time I came across big couscous was on a visit to my mother-in-law in Britain, when I went to raid her Traidcraft cupboard (she runs stalls at local church and school events, and sells Fair Trade food and drink to her neighbours so always has a supply of goodies!). She'd just got a stock of Zaytoun products, including several packets of maftoul (granted, it's Palestinian, not Moroccan!), so I bought a packet from her, and instantly loved it! It's great, isn't it? In fact, I have a bean and maftoul salad recipe that's been sitting in my files for about two years that I keep meaning to re-shoot and then blog!
I love the idea of stuffing peppers with chickpeas and maftoul, and lots of harissa and coriander. My mouth is watering, just looking at your images. I bet the stuffing would work really well with halved butternut squashes too. What a wonderful autumnal feast! xx
Oh, I forgot to say that Romano peppers are really cheap here - currently around 60p per kilo... because everyone's harvests are coming in. They normally cost around £2.50 per kilo, which, all things considered, isn't at all bad, is it?
I have loads in my garden though. Yum - free food! 😉
How very scrumptious these look Kate. I have some giant couscous sitting in a jar staring at me rather sadly, so this could be where it becomes the star of the show. #CookBlogShare
This looks amazing! I love Arabic food so this is right up my street! Healthy, vegan and delicious. Bonus! 😀
I've been loving moroccan spices lately (soups, stews, and even granolas!) so these peppers sound amazing!
These look great and the flavours sound so delicious x
These look absolutely gorgeous, Kate! And with those fab flavours I bet they taste amazing too!! I love harissa so much...such a great shortcut to amazing flavour 🙂 Eb x