Spanish Stuffed Peppers with Farro & Salsa Verde

Spanish Stuffed Peppers are easy, healthy, and best of all, delicious. They're stuffed with a delicious beef and farro filling, packed with the smoky flavours of Spain and drizzled with a fresh parsley salsa verde. These peppers are perfect when you want some lively spice, without too much heat.

Stuffed Peppers have always been a favourite of ours. Especially this time of year when there are peppers in the garden. I've been picking the peppers a little small, so today when I had a bunch of them, I knew I wanted to stuff those little babies. They are at various stages of yellow, orange and red. I like to leave the peppers on the vine until they are at least yellow. But even better, orange and then red.

About Farro

I have fallen in love with farro, a delicious ancient grain that has a chewy, nutty taste. Farro is also known as emmer, and it is a common ingredient in Mediterranean &  Middle Eastern dishes. It's a very healthy grain, high in fibre, protein, & nutrients, especially iron   Farro can stand in for rice, barley, bugler or any other grain in a recipe. And since I had some farro already cooked for a salad, (this delicious Farro, Pomegranate, & Belgium Endive Salad), I used it in place of rice for these stuffed peppers. The cooking time for farro depends on a lot of factors, so follow the directions on your package, or check out Never Over (or Under) Cook Farro Again.

Spanish Flavours

Spanish cooking is all about simple spices and paprika, or pimentón is frequently the star. Smoky Spanish paprika is different from Hungarian paprika. But if you can't find the Spanish variety, you can substitute spicy Hungarian paprika.

Parsley is also an extensive ingredient in Spanish dishes. So these stuffed peppers are accompanied by a simple and fresh salsa verde of parsley, garlic and olive oil. This dish is easy to make, and the nutty chewiness of the farro, with smoky paprika, sweet peppers and the bright freshness of parsley came together beautifully. A simple salad of fresh tomato and cucumber on the side made a delicious dinner.

These Spanish stuffed peppers can easily be a vegetarian option. Just omit the ground beef, increase the farro, and add more tomatoes.

To avoid heating the house with the oven, I cooked the filling in a skillet while the peppers were on the grill and filled them afterwards. Then I left them in a skillet on the grill just long enough to soften the peppers further.

Want to try more international stuffed peppers? Check out these Moroccan Style Ground Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Spanish Stuffed Peppers with Farro & Salsa Verde

These delicious grilled bell peppers are stuffed with a filling of ground beef and farro are seasoned with Spanish flavours, then drizzled with a fresh parsley salsa verde.

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Spanish

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 410kcal

Author: Colleen Milne

Ingredients

Stuffed Peppers

• 4 bell peppers cut lengthwise, cored and seeded.
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 tomatoes diced
• 1 cup cooked farro*
• salt and pepper to taste

Salsa Verde

• 1 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp kosher or sea salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Heat grill to medium-high and brush or spray with oil.
• Put peppers, cut side down on the grill and cook until cut side is just starting to char 4-5 minutes
• Remove peppers from the grill and place in a cast-iron or other grill proof-skillet, cut side up and set aside.  
• In a skillet, heat olive oil on medium and cook onion and garlic until softened.
• Add paprika and cayenne, and cook, stirring until fragrant.
• Add ground beef and cook, breaking up with a spoon until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in farro, tomato, salt and pepper.
• Spoon filling into the cut peppers, pushing with a spoon to fill each pepper, with a mound on top. Return filled peppers to the grill. Place on indirect heat and close the lid.
• Put parsley, vinegar, garlic, olive oil and salt in a blender or food processor (I used my magic bullet) and process until you have a bright green sauce.
• Remove peppers from the grill and serve with salsa verde.

Notes

To use the oven instead of a grill, preheat oven to 400° and follow the same steps.

You can substitute any grain for the farro, including rice or quinoa. For a gluten-free version, use buckwheat groats or millet.

You can substitute mushrooms or tofu for the ground beef for a vegan version.

Nutrition

Serving: 2g | Calories: 410kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 963mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 6335IU | Vitamin C: 164mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 4.8mg