piquillo peppers and kiwi blokes

all this past week i have been contemplating an conundrum. invited to a dinner party and told i could bring an appetizer, i struggled over what to bring. requisites: tasty, vegetarian, exciting, and easy to make ahead/transport. i thought about pita chips and hummus, but alas i have no food processor and felt that since i had the whole day (minus the hours spent watching the terribly disappointing defeat of the us world cup team), i could probably do better than the buy-and-serve route.

i thought about little tartlets, a new dish that would challenge my culinary skills, but everything used puff pastry, which - while delicious - kind of defeated the health kick i was aiming at. sushi, summer rolls, salads - none of the multitude of recipes i skimmed through seemed to meet all of my criteria. then i found a recipe for stuffed piquillo peppers. aha! at last something that might actually work.

piquillo is spanish for "bird's beak," and these deep red peppers have a little pinched end that gives them their name. the great thing is that you can generally only get them roasted and jarred, which is exactly how you want them for this recipe. and really it couldn't be simpler.

warm some goat cheese to room temperature. while that's warming up, drain and pat dry the piquillo peppers, checking the insides for any remaining seeds. then, scoop a teaspoonful or so of the cheese and gently stuff the peppers. plate and serve. i found it helpful to sometimes tear a vertical slice the side of the larger peppers and then wrap the edges around the cheese, securing with a toothpick, since stuffing them full of cheese would have entirely used up my little goat cheese log! you can either serve these cold or warm, broiling them in the oven for a few minutes with a little olive oil drizzled on top.

in the end, this is such a versatile recipe! the peppers have a slightly smoky flavor from being roasted, and the goat cheese can be mixed with a variety of flavors. my goat cheese was infused with honey, but you could easily use other flavors like fresh cilantro, cumin, or roasted garlic. yum!

and what a lovely evening it was, as well. hosted in honor of four kiwi blokes who are headed south on motor bikes with a goal of reaching cape horn at the tip of south america, the conversation was lively, the company lovely, and the food excellent. how lovely it would be to leave work and go on such a grand adventure! i wish them all the best, and plan on following them on their website/blog. Check it out!