Peppers Stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach
Baked peppers stuffed with Il Cardinale, fresh ricotta, sautéed spinach and toasted pine nuts. The vegetarian version of the Sunday dish.
Red and yellow peppers baked and stuffed with Il Cardinale (wholegrain red rice), drained fresh ricotta, sautéed spinach, lemon zest and toasted pine nuts. A vegetarian one-dish meal for spring and summer: no meat, ricotta bound with egg and Parmesan for body, spinach for the bitter note that talks to the sweetness of the pepper. Ready in ninety minutes, with our Cardinale from Lumellogno, grown within our closed supply chain.
Stuffed peppers are a Sunday dish of southern Italian cooking, and every household has its own version. This is our vegetarian variation, the one we make when we want a single dish that works for those who do not eat meat, without it feeling like a sacrifice. The drained ricotta bound with egg and Parmesan gives the body, the sautéed spinach brings the bitter note that talks to the sweetness of the pepper, the lemon zest and the toasted pine nuts give the fragrant signature.
With our Cardinale, wholegrain red rice from Lumellogno, it works beautifully: without the meat to give character to the filling, it is the rice that carries the nutty flavour and the firm structure that holds everything together after the twenty-five minutes in the oven. The rule of the dish is just one: the rice must be pre-cooked al dente (still firm to the bite) before it goes into the peppers, because it will finish cooking in the oven and the wholegrain needs its own time. A different choice, not a sacrifice.
Ingredients for 4 People
Ingredients
- 200 g Il Cardinale Acqua e Sole rice (wholegrain red rice)
- 4 large peppers (2 red and 2 yellow)
- 400 g fresh spinach (or 300 g if frozen)
- 250 g drained fresh ricotta
- 100 g grated Parmesan
- 100 g mozzarella fior di latte (optional, for a stringier filling)
- 1 fresh spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium egg to bind
- 30 g pine nuts, toasted separately
- to taste zest of half an unwaxed lemon
- to taste a sprig of fresh basil and parsley
- to taste nutmeg, fine salt, black pepper
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
Notes from Our Kitchen
- Cook Il Cardinale strictly al dente, never beyond: in the oven it finishes its time, and if it goes in already cooked it turns floury
- Drain the ricotta well before the mixture: too much water and the filling gets wet, in the oven it cooks in its own liquid instead of browning
- Squeeze the spinach in the sieve, pressing with the spoon: all the cooking water goes away, otherwise it waters down the ricotta
- Toast the pine nuts separately and add them on top at serving, not inside the filling: in the oven they burn and lose their crunch
- Hollow out the peppers carefully but leave a veil of inner flesh: it helps hold the filling and gives more flavour
Method
Preparing the peppers
We wash the 4 peppers under cold water and dry them. We cut them in half lengthways, keeping the stalk attached to one of the two halves, because it helps the presentation. We carefully remove the seeds and the white inner membranes, leaving the walls of the pepper intact. We lightly salt the inside and turn them upside down on a plate lined with kitchen paper for ten minutes, so they lose a little of their water.
Cooking Il Cardinale al dente (35-40 min)
In a large pot we bring two litres of salted water to the boil. We add the 200 g of Il Cardinale and cook over a lively heat for thirty-five to forty minutes, stirring now and then, until the grain is soft on the outside but with resistance at the core. We drain, rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking, and let it drain well in a sieve. We transfer it to a wide bowl, dress it with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and let it cool to room temperature.
Sautéed spinach (8 min)
In a wide pan we heat two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with an unpeeled clove of garlic. We add the finely chopped spring onion and let it sweat gently for three minutes (the soffritto, the slow-sweat aromatic base). We add the cleaned fresh spinach and sauté over a high heat for four to five minutes, until it wilts. We drain it well in a sieve, pressing with the spoon to remove all the cooking water, then chop it coarsely with a knife.
Ricotta cream (5 min)
In a large bowl we work the 250 g of drained ricotta with a fork until it is creamy and smooth. We add the 100 g of grated Parmesan, the lightly beaten egg, a generous pinch of nutmeg, the grated zest of half a lemon, fine salt and a grind of black pepper. We stir until we have a smooth cream.
Bringing the filling together (3 min)
We add the cooled al dente rice to the ricotta cream and stir well so that every grain is coated. We add the chopped squeezed spinach, the finely chopped parsley and basil and, if you like it stringy, the 100 g of mozzarella cut into small cubes. We taste and adjust the salt and pepper. The filling should be soft but not wet.
Preparing the dish and filling
We preheat the oven to one hundred and eighty degrees, conventional setting. We grease a baking dish with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and pour over the bottom a veil of passata thinned with a splash of water. We dry the inside of the peppers with kitchen paper. We arrange the pepper half-cups in the dish, cut side up, and fill them with the filling using a spoon, pressing lightly up to the rim and slightly domed.
Breadcrumbs, pine nuts and oil
We scatter the surface of each pepper with a pinch of breadcrumbs and the separately toasted pine nuts. We drizzle with a thread of extra virgin olive oil. The breadcrumbs will turn golden and crisp in the oven, the pine nuts will give the toasted note on the surface.
Baking in the oven (25 min)
We bake the dish at one hundred and eighty degrees, conventional setting, for twenty-five minutes. Halfway through cooking, after twelve to thirteen minutes, we check: if the surface is colouring too much, we cover it with a sheet of foil laid on top. In the last two to three minutes, if you want a firmer browning, raise to two hundred degrees or switch to the grill, but only for a few seconds: the pine nuts burn quickly.
Resting and serving
We take the dish out of the oven and let it rest for five minutes, covered with a sheet of foil laid on top, not sealed. We arrange two pepper halves on each plate, ideally one red and one yellow for the colour. We add a fresh basil leaf on top of each and a thread of raw extra virgin olive oil. We serve at once.
The vegetarian Sunday in Lumellogno
Stuffed peppers in our house change character with the season and with who comes for lunch. When we want a vegetarian one-dish meal that works for everyone, we go for the version with ricotta and spinach: we start by soaking the spinach in the sink, we drain the ricotta well over the sieve, we grate the zest of the lemon from the garden, we toast the pine nuts in the little pan while the rice cools. It is a Sunday dish more springlike than the meat version, drier, lighter, and with the nutty flavour of Il Cardinale that makes itself heard because there is no ragù to cover it.
Lumellogno · The Novara plain
Why Il Cardinale holds without the meat
Vegetarian stuffed peppers are the test bench for the rice. In the meat version the ragù covers a lot of things: a rice that breaks down a little goes unnoticed, because there is the flavour of the mince and the tomato to give structure to the mouthful. In the filling with ricotta and spinach, on the other hand, the rice stays the lead, and if it breaks down you notice it straight away. That is why here we use our Cardinale, wholegrain red rice from Lumellogno: the grain stands up to the double cooking without falling apart, and its nutty flavour, typical of wholegrains made as they should be, talks beautifully to the sweet ricotta and the clean bitterness of the spinach.
«In the vegetarian filling the rice cannot hide behind the ragù. Il Cardinale, dried at low temperature, keeps the grain whole even after the twenty-five minutes in the oven, and brings a toasted note that vegetarian peppers really need. The substance of the dish comes from the rice, not from the meat.» From our kitchen in Lumellogno
We grow it in Lumellogno, west of Novara, and we process it on site with low-temperature drying in our own drying plant. It is a closed supply chain with ISO 9001 certified production, from seed to grain, that allows us to guarantee the same quality in every pack that leaves our farm. On vegetarian stuffed peppers the difference shows straight away: a whole grain even after the double cooking, structure that holds the creamy filling, a nutty flavour that comes through clean.
Questions about vegetarian stuffed peppers
Which rice to use for vegetarian stuffed peppers?
How long does Il Cardinale wholegrain red rice take to cook?
Can I prepare the stuffed peppers the day before?
Suggested Pairing
To accompany this vegetarian version we like structured whites with good freshness, which stand up to the ricotta without flattening the spinach. We happily open an Erbaluce di Caluso, just outside our own borders, or a Sauvignon del Collio, with the mineral freshness that balances the creaminess.
For those who prefer a red, a young Bonarda dell’Oltrepò Pavese works well, medium body and soft tannin. Avoid important reds like Barolo or Amarone: they cover the delicate filling and take away room from the spinach and the lemon.
Riso Rosso Cardinale Acqua e Sole
Our wholegrain red rice, grown in Lumellogno and processed in our own rice mill. A firm grain, a clean nutty flavour, low-temperature drying to keep the surface starch intact. The right variety for baked dishes and for vegetarian fillings where the rice stays the lead: it stands up to the double cooking without breaking down and brings the body that the meat is not there to give.
Bring Il Cardinale homeOriginal Acqua e Sole recipe, from our kitchen in Lumellogno.