Spanish Rice and Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

About This Recipe

This dish takes the core flavors of Spanish saffron rice — smoked paprika, chorizo, saffron — and packs them into baked peppers topped with melted manchego, a nod to the way Spanish home cooks often use stuffed vegetables (pimientos rellenos) as a way to turn a rice dish into a complete, easy-to-portion meal. The filling itself is essentially a simplified paella base, cooked most of the way on the stovetop before it's packed into the peppers to finish in the oven.\n\nThe important technique here is fully cooking the rice filling on the stovetop first, not relying on the oven to cook raw rice inside the peppers — raw rice packed into a pepper and baked rarely cooks evenly, while a fully cooked filling just needs enough oven time to soften the pepper itself and melt the cheese on top.\n\nServe hot from the oven with a wedge of lemon on the side — the acidity cuts through the richness of the chorizo and melted manchego.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 largebell peppers(tops sliced off, seeded)
• 150 gSpanish cured chorizo(diced)
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1onion(finely diced)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tspsweet smoked paprika
• 0.2 tspsaffron threads
• 1 cupshort-grain rice
• 2 cupschicken stock
• 1tomato(diced)
• 1 cupshredded manchego cheese
• 0.25 cupfresh parsley(chopped)

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the peppers

   Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Place pepper halves cut-side up in a baking dish and roast 10 minutes.

2. 2

   Render the chorizo

   Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook 3-4 minutes until it releases its fat, then add onion and cook 5 minutes until soft.

3. 3

   Season and add rice

   Stir in garlic, smoked paprika and saffron and cook 1 minute, then add rice and tomato, stirring to coat for 1-2 minutes.

4. 4

   Cook the rice

   Pour in stock, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 16-18 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

   Cook the rice fully before stuffing the peppers — packing in undercooked rice and hoping the oven finishes it usually leaves a hard, chalky center.

5. 5

   Stuff and top

   Fill the roasted pepper halves with the rice mixture, mounding generously, and top with shredded manchego.

6. 6

   Bake

   Bake 15-18 minutes until the cheese is melted and lightly golden. Top with parsley and serve hot.

Variations

• •

  Swap manchego for a smoked Spanish cheese like idiazábal for an even more pronounced smoky flavor.

• •

  Add chopped roasted red peppers to the filling for extra sweetness and color.

• •

  Make it vegetarian by skipping the chorizo and using extra smoked paprika plus sauteed mushrooms for umami.

Storage

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat covered in a 350°F (175°C) oven or in the microwave until warmed through.

Frequently Asked Questions