Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Nestle enjoys Spanish-style tapas, appetizer-sized portions that allow her to reasonably savor a variety of flavors at a single meal. Piquillos are small, red, spicy-sweet roasted Spanish peppers; look for them in gourmet groceries, or order them online from La Tienda (www.tienda.com).

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed peppers)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  cups  water
• 1/2  cup  long-grain brown rice
• 1/8  teaspoon  saffron threads, crushed
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4  cup  fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1  (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 10  piquillo peppers (about 1 [7.76-ounce] jar)
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) shredded Manchego cheese
• Flat-leaf parsley sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until done. Stir in chopped parsley, black pepper, salt, and tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons rice mixture into each piquillo pepper. Place stuffed peppers in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with Manchego cheese. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until peppers are thoroughly heated. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

109 (17% from fat)

Fat:

2g (sat 1.2g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

3.4g

Carbohydrate:

17.9g

Fiber:

1.2g

Cholesterol:

4mg

Iron:

0.8mg

Sodium:

442mg

Calcium:

84mg