Seafood Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers
Also known as Italian Frying peppers. Cubanelle peppers are large and blocky. They are light green in appearance and they mature red. The thin walls of this pepper make it an excellent choice for frying. This pepper is not hot.
Yields 7-8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 oz.) of scallops
- 300 grams (10 oz.) of peeled, de-veined, shrimp
- 7 (or 8) cubanelle peppers
- 2 vine ripened tomatoes
- 2 teaspoon crushed/pureed garlic
- 2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon white vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
- Lemon wedges.
- 15 Ritz Crackers
Note: You can also use seasoned panko bread crumbs instead. - Optional: 1 – 2 tbs of butter
Instructions
- Turn your oven broiler on and set to “high.”
Substitute: You can also you an outdoor or indoor grill set on medium-high heat. - Wash the peppers, cut off the tops, and take out the seeds as well as the white-ish parts sticking out from the sides.
- Place the peppers into a large baking dish so that they aren’t touching and then place into the oven (or place the peppers directly onto the grill).
- Let the outside of the peppers char until they are blackish, then turn them over so that the other side chars as well (about 4 minutes each side), and then remove them from the oven/grill to cool. Set the oven for 375 degrees F.
- Cut up the tomatoes into small (about 1/4 inch) cubes and set aside.
- Dice the shrimp and scallops into small pieces. You can also use a food processor for this, but be careful not to over-blend, otherwise you won’t have a chunky texture, but more of a paste.
- Put the scallops and shrimp into a large bowl and start adding the following ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, chili powder, paprika, parsley, and vinegar. Then mix thoroughly.
- Let the ingredients settle and absorb flavors while you carefully cut the peppers down one side and open them so that the stuffing can go in easily. They will kind of flop about, but when you stuff them you will wrap the sides up around the seafood.
- Next stuff the peppers with the seafood mixture. You should be able to use all of the mix spread out over seven or eight peppers.
- After stuffing the peppers, crush up 12-15 Ritz crackers using a food processor or simply place them in a ziploc bag and crushing them using a tenderizing mallet.
- Sprinkle the crushed Ritz crackers over the seafood mix in the peppers.
Optional: Melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter and drizzle it over the crackers on the peppers.
- Bake the peppers for about 15 to 20 minutes until the stuffing is white and the crackers are golden brown
- Remove the peppers carefully from the baking dish with a spatula and serve with a lemon wedge.
