Cheese-Baked Capsicums with Linguine
These stuffed capsicums, filled with thin pasta in a savoury custard, make an ideal first course to serve four, or a light vegetarian lunch for two served with a salad and warm bread.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 2 large red, orange or yellow capsicums
- 50 g linguine
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- ⅓ cup (60 g) firmly packed grated mature tasty cheese
- 1¼ tsp English mustard powder
- ¼ cup (60 ml) low-fat milk
- ¼ cup (15 g) snipped fresh chives
- ¼ tsp dried marjoram or oregano
- 2 tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped
- salt and pepper
- fresh whole chives to garnish
- TO SERVE (optional)
- salad leaves
Directions
Preparation:20min ›
Cook:45min ›
Ready in:1hour5min
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Halve the capsicums lengthways, carefully cutting through the stalk. Remove the pith and seeds. Cook the capsicum shells in boiling water for 6–8 minutes or until tender. Drain thoroughly and place on paper towel.
- Cook the linguine in boiling water for 10 minutes, or according to the packet instructions, until al dente. Drain well.
- Beat the eggs with the cheese, mustard powder, milk, chives and marjoram. Stir in the tomatoes and seasoning to taste.
- Place the capsicums in an ovenproof dish or roasting tin, supporting them with pieces of crumpled foil, if necessary, to ensure that they are level (otherwise the filling will spill out). Half fill each capsicum with linguine, then spoon the egg and cheese mixture over the pasta.
- Bake for 20–25 minutes or until the filling is set and beginning to turn golden. Serve garnished with whole chives, with an accompaniment of mixed salad leaves, if you like.
Some more ideas…
*Use 60 g fresh linguine instead of dried. Fresh linguine will only need to be cooked for 2–3 minutes.
*For a more substantial dish, cook an extra 140 g linguine while the capsicums are baking and toss with 1 tbsp snipped fresh chives. Serve as a base for the capsicums.
*To make a tasty dinner for two, thoroughly drain and flake 1 can tuna in brine (about 100 g) and add it to the egg mixture. Serve 2 capsicum halves per person.
*Stir 4 pitted green olives, finely chopped, into the egg mixture.
Health points
These capsicums make an elegant and delicious vegetarian dish. They are a complete meal, since they contain a starch component, protein from the milk and cheese, and several servings of vegetables.
Each serving provides
GI estimate low.
