Baked Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef and Gruyère Cheese

Step-by-step recipe

1. Baked stuffed peppers are easy to make: the filling is very simple, and the peppers themselves need hardly any prep. Buy small green peppers about the size of a hen's egg. They can be either hot or mild. Go for lean beef – chuck works well. For the cheese, I recommend something with a pronounced, sharp flavor, ideally Gruyère.
   
2. Wash the peppers well and pat them dry. With a sharp knife, cut each one lengthwise in half, starting at the stem. You should end up with two halves, each with a piece of stem. Carefully scrape the seeds out of the cavity. That's all the prep the peppers need – now they just have to be stuffed.
   
3. Peel the onion and the chili. Dice the onion fairly small and finely chop half of the chili with a knife. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet, keeping a little back for greasing the baking dish. Fry the onion and chili until soft. Ideally the vegetables should start to lose their moisture and turn lightly golden. Don't add salt or spices yet.
   
4. Trim the lean beef of any bone fragments, sinew and large pieces of fat. Grind the meat in a meat grinder. By the way, the stuffed peppers will taste better if the meat isn't ground too fine. As an alternative, try chopping the beef with a knife. Add the ground beef to the skillet with the onion and chili.
   
5. Season the filling with salt and ground black pepper. Fry the meat over medium heat, uncovered, stirring constantly. The beef will release water almost immediately; let it evaporate so the meat starts to brown and turns light brown. Browning the ground beef usually takes 10-12 mins, which is enough for it to cook through. That said, it can be slightly underdone, since it will still be baked.
   
6. Get out a baking dish – ceramic or ovenproof glass is best. Grease the bottom with a little vegetable oil. Brush the outside of each pepper half with oil – just a trace. Fill each half with the meat mixture, pressing it down lightly. Arrange the stuffed peppers in the dish.
   
7. Preheat the oven to 180°C and let it heat through properly. Coarsely grate the Gruyère. Finely chop the remaining piece of chili and mix it with the cheese. Spread the cheese over the filling in the dish and press it down a little. Put the dish in the oven. After 20-25 mins, once the peppers are starting to brown and the cheese has melted and begun to darken slightly, the dish is ready.
   
8. While the peppers are baking, you can make a side dish. Any grain will do – rice, beans, bulgur. Or even canned corn – it's delicious. We serve ours with fried rice. To serve, put the side dish and the stuffed peppers on a plate and sprinkle with a few herbs. Serve the peppers with beef while they're hot.
   
9. I've seen grilled vegetables suggested as a side dish a few times. Grilled tomatoes in particular get recommended – give them a try. You can easily swap the beef for chicken, turkey or pork. Use any cheese you like, as long as it has a pronounced, sharp flavor and melts well.