Chiles rellenos with salsa roja ‘risotto’
In this Mexican dish, stuffed roasted peppers are filled with a generous helping of feta and mozzarella and served on a bed of saucy rice. You can make much of this dish ahead, stuffing and grilling the peppers and stirring together the rice and salsa about 10 minutes before serving. For this recipe, you will need a blender.
Ingredients
For the chiles rellenos
- 200g/7oz short grain brown rice
- 8 red Romano peppers
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú feta cheese, roughly broken into small pieces
- 200g/7oz buffalo mozzarella, drained well, patted dry and torn into medium chunks
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 2 limes, cut into wedges, to serve
- flaked sea salt
For the salsa roja
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 15g/½oz unsalted butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 300²µ/10½´Ç³ú sweet ripe cherry tomatoes, such as Datterini
- ½ dried ancho chilli
- 1 dried habanero chilli
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp fine salt
Method
To make the chiles rellenos, put the rice in a large mixing bowl and cover with twice the amount of lukewarm water. Leave the rice to soak uncovered at room temperature for at least 2 hours or overnight.
When you are ready to cook the chiles rellenos, heat a grill to hot.
Cut a slit along one side of each pepper, keeping them attached at the top and bottom. Arrange the peppers on a rack, sat over a baking tray, slit side up. Grill until soft and blackened (about 7 minutes), then turn the peppers over and grill for another 4–8 minutes. Allow the peppers to cool on the rack, slit side down, so that any liquid drains away.
Drain the soaked rice and put into a medium saucepan with 450ml/16fl oz water. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and cook for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, then allow to rest for 10 minutes with the lid on. Set aside.
To make the salsa roja, place the olive oil, butter, onion, garlic, tomatoes, chillies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and salt into a large pan and fry on a medium heat, stirring often for 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down and the onions are soft and golden-brown. Turn down the heat if it starts to catch or burn.
Remove and discard the habanero and ancho chilli, squeezing with the back of a spoon before removing. Transfer the salsa to a blender, add 120ml/4½fl oz of water and the tomato purée and blend until smooth. Return to the pan and set aside.
Turn the grill to high.
To stuff the peppers, mix the feta and mozzarella together in a bowl.
Transfer the peppers from the rack to a foil-lined baking tray. Peel some of the skin off. Pat the inside dry and season with salt. Stuff the pepper with the cheese mixture. Season with a little flaked sea salt and drizzle over a little oil.
Grill for 7–9 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and brown in patches.
Add the cooked rice to the pan with the salsa roja, stir again and gently heat through for a minute. The texture should be that of a loose, saucy risotto – add a splash of water if it’s looking too thick.
To serve, spoon the rice onto a platter and top with the peppers. Finish with the spring onions and coriander, squeeze over some of the limes and serve.
