Stuffed baby vegetables

• baby red peppers↗6
• baby aubergines↗6
• courgettes↗3fat
• hot vegetable stock↗about 300ml ml
• pudding rice↗400g g
• red pepper↗1

  seeded and finely chopped

• onion↗1medium

  finely chopped

• fresh mint↗very large handful

  leaves, coarsely chopped

• dried mint↗1 tsp tsp
• chopped tomatoes400g can g

  400g can

• lemon↗1large

  finely grated zest and juice

• hot pepper↗1heaped tbsp tbsp

  paste (Sera brand from Turkish grocers) or Gourmet Garden chilli paste

• olive oil↗5 tbsp tbsp

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Make the stuffing. Swish the rice about in a bowl of cold water, drain well and add the remaining stuffing ingredients. Season if you want to, then mix well.

2. 2

   Cut off the stalk ends of the peppers and remove the cores. With a vegetable peeler, remove strips of aubergine skin, to give a striped effect. Cut off the stalk ends, then dig out the flesh with an apple corer or teaspoon. Cut a thin sliver off the bottom of each vegetable so they will stand upright. Cut off the ends of the courgettes, then cut in half crossways and scoop out the flesh as for the aubergines.

3. 3

   Spoon the stuffing into the vegetables and stand them upright in a saucepan or flameproof casserole, cramming them in tightly. Pour in enough stock to come halfway up their sides and bring to the boil. Cover tightly with a lid and cook over a low heat for 45 mins. (If you’ve got any leftover stuffing, cook it in a separate pan of stock for about 20 mins until the rice is tender.) Leave the vegetables to settle for 10 mins.