Moroccan-Style Lentil Stuffed Peppers (Vegan GF)

A lightly spiced, warming and hearty Moroccan flavoured date and lentil mixture baked into stuffed peppers. An easy, healthy and protein-packed vegan and gluten-free main meal or starter and great to serve to friends and family.

These Moroccan-Style Lentil Stuffed Peppers started as an idea to use up my aubergines, but as I got carried away with the flavours and vegetables, my aubergine got pushed to the side, and instead I brought in the peppers. There is no denying my love for vegetables, so it’s rather perplexing that I had yet to upload a stuffed pepper recipe – an excuse to eat vegetables stuffed with more vegetables. This recipe makes up for that, as they are so tasty, I’ve been eating them all week long.

All the flavour comes from the simple but delicious Moroccan-style sauce:

• Red pepper: this adds a lot of the bulk and you could similarly use orange or yellow pepper, too.
• Garlic: for a punch of flavour.
• Ginger: fresh ginger will always be best, but you could use dried ginger if you don’t have any.
• Onion: I like to use shallots when I have them, but you can also use white onion in its place. It adds a slight bitterness and sharpness to add to the flavours. 

Along with these base ingredients, come the Moroccan-style spices and herbs. I must admit that I have not been to Morocco, but I dream to one day as I love their cuisine. I think their warmly spiced, yet sweet and tangy flavours are amazing and I could eat this kind of food all day long. For my Moroccan-esque flavour combination, I used:

• Ground cumin
• Ground coriander
• Tomato puree: for depth of rich flavour.
• Tamari soy sauce: for richness and the umami punch of flavour.
• Date molasses: this has such a wonderfully sticky nature to it and I love that it is made from dates. That said, you can also use maple or agave syrup here, although the date molasses really has an un-rivalled quality if you can find some (I use this one from Belazu).
• Dates: more dates in their whole form are chopped up into the sauce. If you don’t have dates, you could replace them with raisins, sultanas or chopped up dried apricots for example.

It’s quite common in Moroccan cuisine to add dried fruits to savoury dishes. They ooze their sweetness into the sauce while turning really plump and tender, almost falling apart.

The final part to this Moroccan-style filling are the cooked lentils. I have used cooked green lentils here, but you could also try puy lentils or even small beans or chickpeas. Then fill the peppers and roast!

Once these Moroccan-Style Lentil Stuffed Peppers are cooked, top them with some cooling coconut yoghurt, fresh coriander, homemade dukkha or mixed seeds and some pomegranate.

These Moroccan-Style Lentil Stuffed Peppers are delicious served as a main meal with a cooked grain like rice, quinoa or potatoes and some salad, or served as a starter, too. They are deliciously simple and easy to make with so much flavour – rich spices and sweet dried fruits. Naturally gluten-free (check you are using tamari soy sauce rather than standard soy sauce if needed) and vegan, these stuffed peppers are also great cold in a lunchbox with some salad.

Play around and use the Moroccan-Style Lentils to serve over pasta or stuffed into baked potatoes, too. They are so versatile and packed with flavour.

If you are looking for more vegetable focused main meals, how about my:

• Roasted Cauliflower and Beetroot Pasta
• Roasted Cumin Carrot Lentil Salad with Cashew Cheese
• Roasted Red Pepper and Cauliflower Harissa Traybake
• Mini Butternut Squash Nut Roast Cups
• Hassleback Sweet Potato and Chickpea Traybake

Moroccan-Style Lentil Stuffed Peppers (Vegan GF)

• Servings: 4 as a main, 8 as a starter
• Time: 40 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A lightly spiced, warming and hearty Moroccan flavoured date and lentil mixture baked into stuffed peppers. An easy, healthy and protein-packed vegan and gluten-free main meal or starter and great to serve to friends and family.

Ingredients

• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1-cm piece ginger, peeled
• 1 shallot, peeled and chopped (or ½ white onion)
• 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
• 1 tbsp date molasses or syrup
• 500g cooked lentils (green and/or puy)
• 100g pitted dates, chopped
• 4 large bell peppers, halved and de-seeded
• Olive oil
• To serve: grain of choice, coconut yogurt, fresh coriander, dukkha, pomegranate

Directions

1. Place the first red pepper, garlic, ginger, shallot, hot smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, tomato puree, soy sauce, date molasses or syrup with salt and pepper into a blender or food processor and whizz until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
2. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
3. Sir the lentils into the Moroccan tomato sauce with the chopped dates.
4. Rub the 4 peppers with some olive oil and place on the baking trays. Fill each pepper with the Moroccan lentils and bake for 25-30 minutes until tender and charring at the edges.
5. Serve warm with some coconut yoghurt, fresh coriander, some dukkha and pomegranate. Serve alongside some rice or other cooked grain, potatoes of flatbreads.

I hope you will enjoy these Moroccan-Style Lentil Stuffed Peppers – let me know what you think below. Tag me in your creations, too – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With stuffed pepper love x