Subtly flavored, Mediterranean inspired, Tempeh Stuffed Hungarian Peppers

Did that name make your mouth cramp up? Well, you have treat in store for you. I am so glad I came up with this recipe. It makes two things easy: getting some vegetarian protein and eating zucchini. I hate zucchini. Not anymore. I use it as a sauce thickener.

Ingredients:

1. 2 Packets of Tempeh -- finely chopped or crumbled
2. 8 Hungarian wax peppers (they are not sweet, and I like that)
3. 2 medium sized zuchinis or 1.5 biggish zucchini -- peeled and finely chopped
4. One medium sized onion -- chopped
5. 5 garlic pods -- minced
6. 1 cup loosely packed fresh lemon basil -- (you can even add more)
7. 1 tbsp dried rosemary -- crushed.
8. Whole black pepper corns -- to taste
9. Some chili powder or paprika -- to taste
10. Olive oil
11. 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
12. Almond milk -- may be about a cup or more (you will have to adjust on the fly)

The Method:

1. Heat some oil in a pan and saute the tempeh until crisp.
2. Add the lemon basil and a little more oil and saute some more.
3. Set aside, once the lemon basil gives up its aroma and wilts a bit.
4. Add some crushed pepper and a little salt to above.
5. May be around now, you can preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
6. Heat the pan again with some oil 
7. Add 5 or 6 pepper corns whole and wait for it to pop. This will happen only if the oil is sufficiently hot.
8. Reduce heat and drop the garlic and crushed rosemary
9. Once the garlic is translucent and aromatic, add the onions, salt, chili powder, rosemary and some crushed pepper. 
10. Add the chopped zucchini and the almond milk. And let the zucchini really become soft. 
11. You can keep mashing the zucchini which will pretty much liquify it. 
12. Check for taste and add salt and pepper if needed.
13. Check for consistency (we are going for something like the roux here) and add almond milk or oil if needed.
14. Toss the fried up tempeh into this, add some balsamic vinegar and cook till incorporated. Add only enough balsamic vinegar to make the flavor have more depth than salt and heat, but not too much to make it very vinegary.
15. Cut the top off the Hungarian peppers and remove the rind and seeds. 
16. Stuff the tempeh mixture into the peppers -- pack it real tight
17. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and set the peppers on it. 
18. Dribble some oil on each of these
19. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
20. Enjoy -- here is a picture of the stuffed peppers, before it was baked.
    

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