The Sicilian stuffed peppers without meat are really tasty and simple to make, using stale bread crumbs, olives, capers, and a few other ingredients to create perfect peppers, specifically the bullhorn variety.
Easy to prepare and you can cook them in a traditional oven or air fryer, with instructions also provided for microwave and stovetop methods with the same results.
They are essentially a main dish that can be served at room temperature, and the stuffed peppers without meat will be well-received by your vegetarian friends.
We used pecorino and parmesan in the filling, but you can replace one of them with provola cubes, and you can also enrich them with anchovies in oil, though they won’t be suitable for vegetarians then.
Below, as always, I leave you other stuffed pepper recipes, and then we move right below the photo, as always, to discover how to prepare these Sicilian stuffed peppers without meat!!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven, Air Frying, Microwave
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Fall
Ingredients for Sicilian Stuffed Peppers without Meat
For 4 peppers suitable for 2 people as a main dish
- 4 bullhorn peppers
- 1 1/3 cups stale bread
- 1 oz Sicilian pecorino (grated)
- 1 oz grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp capers in salt
- 0.7 oz Gaeta olives
- 1 sprig basil
- 6 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
Steps for Sicilian Stuffed Peppers without Meat
Wash and dry the peppers, remove the top cap with a small knife and set it aside.
Gently remove the seeds and any internal filaments.
Shred the stale bread with your hands or using a food processor, it should not become breadcrumbs but have coarse crumbs.
In a bowl, combine the stale bread, grated cheeses, basil torn with your hands, and capers and olives coarsely chopped.
Add salt and extra virgin olive oil (quantities are indicative), you should obtain a moist mixture but not sticky, rather crumbly.
Preheat the oven to 375°F in static mode, oil a baking tray.
Fill each pepper using a teaspoon and press with your fingers to reach the bottom.
Place the Sicilian stuffed bullhorn peppers in the tray, prick them in several places with a toothpick (to prevent them from breaking during cooking) and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Place the reserved caps nearby.
Bake them for at least 30/35 minutes turning them only once to brown on all sides.
For air frying, use a suitable sized baking tray.
Cook them in oven function at 340°F for 20 minutes turning them only once.
For microwave cooking, if you have the Crisp plate drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil, preheat with the crisp function for 2 minutes then place the peppers and their caps.
Cook with crisp function for 4 minutes, turn them with tongs, cook another 4 minutes. Let them rest for 3 or 4 minutes before consuming.
If you don’t have the crisp function use microwave + grill, place the peppers inside a borosilicate glass bowl and cook 10 minutes.
For stovetop cooking, heat a large pan very well with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, add the peppers.
Cook uncovered 5 minutes then turn them, cover with the lid and cook for 10/12 more minutes checking and turning them once they’re browned underneath.
Tips, Variations, and Storage
You can replace one of the grated cheeses with the same amount of provola in cubes.
If you are not vegetarian, you can add anchovies in oil to the filling.
You can moisten the stale bread with a little milk instead of extra virgin olive oil.
Once cooled, peppers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 2 days, or frozen in appropriate containers.
