These simple stuffed peppers with Parma Ham are delicious and healthy – just right for a light and summery lunch. To make this tasty treat, put the bulghar wheat in a bowl with the stock and spring onions, then add tomatoes and parsley. Arrange the halved peppers in a baking dish, add the bulghar wheat mixture and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Top the dish with slices of Parma Ham and serve.
Popular on LondonNet
Delicious Parma Ham is a completely natural food with nothing added except salt. Making a Parma Ham is a long and painstaking process. The curing is controlled carefully so that the ham absorbs only enough salt to preserve it to retain its distinctive sweet flavour.
Prosciutto di Parma is produced in the hills surrounding the Italian town of Parma. The air in the Parmesan hills is unique, dry and sweet-smelling with breezes from the Apennine mountains, creating perfect environmental conditions for a natural “drying” of the hams.
The unique taste of Parma Ham is dependent on the traditional production process passed down from Roman times, carefully controlled by the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma. Only hams that have passed stringent curing regulations approved by the EU can be awarded the stamp of the Ducal crown – a five pointed coronet logo with PARMA in the centre which is branded onto the ham’s skin. The Ducal Crown is now a certification trademark.
Parma Ham And Roasted Stuffed Spicy Peppers
Serves 4
150g (5oz) bulghar wheat or couscous
1 tsp vegetable stock powder
4 spring onions, finely chopped
4 spicy green or sweet long red peppers, halved lengthways and deseeded
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
8 slices Parma Ham
• Put the bulghar wheat or couscous into a heatproof bowl with the stock powder and spring onions. Add boiling water to just cover the grains, then leave to soak and swell for 10 minutes
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C / fan oven 170°C / gas mark 5. Arrange the pepper halves, cut sides up, in a baking dish or roasting tin
• Fluff up the bulghar wheat or couscous with a fork and stir in the tomatoes and parsley. Spoon the mixture into the peppers and drizzle with the olive oil
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Serve, topped with the slices of Parma Ham
Cook’s tip: You can use other vegetables instead of peppers – try large mushrooms, hollowed-out beef tomatoes or courgettes instead. For extra flavour, mix 75g (3oz) of crumbled feta cheese into the bulghar wheat before packing it into the vegetables.
