The tuna-stuffed pepper rolls are a tasty and simple-to-prepare cold appetizer, which can also be served as a light and unusual second course. These tuna pepper rolls are also suitable to accompany aperitifs, or to be offered among other buffet snacks and party refreshments.
The recipe for the tuna-stuffed pepper rolls is very simple and involves roasting the peppers in the oven — but if you have a microwave you can achieve the same result in a short time and without enduring the oven heat — and stuffing them with a filling made of tuna, hard-boiled eggs, capers, anchovies, and a little mayonnaise. The tuna pepper rolls are a summer recipe that will come in handy on many occasions and can be customized by adding or removing ingredients as you prefer, as I suggest in the notes at the end of the recipe.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients for about 12 Tuna Pepper Rolls
If you are celiac, check that the mayonnaise has the label “gluten-free”
- 2 peppers (medium)
- 3.5 oz tuna in oil (weighed drained)
- 2 eggs
- 2 anchovies in oil
- 1 tbsp capers in salt
- 1 tsp mayonnaise
- 1 sprig parsley
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Oven
- 1 Baking Tray
- Parchment paper
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Mixer
How to Prepare Tuna Pepper Rolls
To prepare the tuna-stuffed peppers, first you need to cook the peppers. You have several options: if you don’t need to peel them, you can cut them lengthwise into strips about 1.2 inches wide, removing stalk and seeds, place them on a tray lined with parchment paper, drizzle with olive oil, and cook at 390°F (convection oven) for about 20 minutes, turning them halfway through cooking.
If, however, like often happens, the skin of the pepper is hard to digest and you want to remove it, the best thing is to cook them whole in the oven or microwave, then peel them afterwards. For cooking peppers in the microwave, follow this tutorial.
If you want to roast the peppers in the oven, place them whole and unseasoned on a tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 390°F (convection oven) for about 40 minutes, turning them every 10-15 minutes.
Take them out of the oven (2) and with the help of a spatula, put them in a bowl, immediately covering with a plate. Let them cool completely. This way, the steam will make the skin easier to remove.
While the peppers cool, prepare the filling: place the eggs in a saucepan with cold water and cook them for 9 minutes from boiling (3).
Drain them and cool them well under running water, so they will be easier to peel. Remove the shell, cut them into quarters, and put them in a mixer (4).
Add 2 anchovy fillets in oil, 1 tablespoon of capers (after rinsing them under running water), the tuna, and the parsley (5). Blend everything until you get a homogeneous and rather pasty mixture (6).
Add the mayonnaise (7) and incorporate it into the other ingredients using a spoon. The filling is ready (8); if you are not using it immediately, store it in the refrigerator.
When the peppers are cold, place them on a cutting board and remove the skin by simply pulling it off (9).
Also remove the stalk and seeds and cut the peppers into strips about 1.2 inches wide (10).
Place each strip on the cutting board and fill it with a teaspoon of tuna filling (11), then roll it up to form a roll (12).
You can serve the tuna-stuffed pepper rolls immediately or let them marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Storage
The tuna-stuffed pepper rolls can be kept in the refrigerator for about 3 days, provided you used industrial mayonnaise. If you made homemade mayonnaise, consume them within 24 hours.
Tips and Variants
In this recipe, I didn’t add salt because the filling is already flavorful enough to my taste, but if you prefer, you can of course put a pinch in the filling and/or on the peppers after you’ve peeled them.
Mayonnaise is not essential, but it makes the filling softer and less pasty. If you don’t like anchovies and capers, you can eliminate them or replace them with vegetables preserved in oil: sun-dried tomatoes, for example, go very well, as do artichokes.
