Tapas Recipe-Goat Cheese stuffed Peppadew Peppers

We love tapas!  Lovely little bites or small plates of food that just explode with multiple flavors when you pop them in your mouth. Tapas can be made of anything, they’re just complete bites of food, kinda like horderves.

Tapas are served in Spain at most of the bars. You sit and order your drinks which are served with complementary wonderful little plates of food. Nothing like the pitiful peanuts (if you’re lucky) served in the bars here in the US.

My hubby and I just love them because they seem to help bring out the fun times of sitting back with a good glass of wine and nibbling on tapas. It’s all about the exploration of food and get so many fun tastes of fun instead of just ordering a big one. I also find that we tend to eat less, which of course can be a great thing for the waistline.

Perusing the Cheese Importers in Longmont, CO the other day (this lovely European market with a walk-in cheese fridge. Yes, I said walk-in), I found some lovely peppadew peppers. These little guys are so great because they just explode with a spicy sweet flavor that is just heavenly, especially when combined with a good cheese.

Combining them with the slightly sour of the goat cheese, some olive oil and black pepper for more flavor and cooking them in a pan, before drizzling them with the sweet flavors of a good aged balsamic vinegar created the perfect marrying of sweet, sour, spicy and wonderful flavors that we just loved. The official taste-tester, my wonderful hubby, said they were on the keepers list for sure and to make them again real soon.

Goat Cheese stuffed Peppadew Peppers

heidi medina

Print Recipe

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Servings 12

Notes

12 Peppadew peppers, drained

1 Tbsp. shallots, finely chopped

3 oz. soft goat cheese

1 Tbsp. fresh oregano, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Black pepper to taste

Aged Balsamic Vinegar for sprinkling over stuffed peppers

Garnish with oregano or parsley leaves, optional

Over medium heat, cook shallots in olive oil until soft, about 2 minutes.

In a bowl, mix goat cheese, cooked shallots with olive oil, fresh oregano and black pepper.

Place the cheese mix in a piping bag or Ziploc bag with the tip cut off and pipe the mix into the peppers.

Return pan to the stove, over medium-high heat. Place the peppers in the pan and cook until cheese is melting, flipping once. Pepper skin will blacken slightly.

Remove the peppers from the pan to a plate and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with oregano and parsley if desired.

Serve warm or at room temperature.