Peppers Stuffed with Herbed Chevre

It may be past the middle of October, but we still have bell peppers--time to use those up!  We've also still got chevre in the market.  Treat yourself to this fun and simple ecipe.

Peppers Stuffed with Herbed Chevre

6 mini bell peppers
1 8 oz container of chevre (soft goat cheese)
*2 finely chopped tablespoons of any of these herbs (rosemary, thyme,
oregano, marjoram, sage, or any other herbs you've got laying around)
Salt and pepper

*Pick up some herbed chevre in the market and skip this step!

Mix the herbs and salt and pepper with the chevre. Slice lengthwise one side of the pepper -- enough to remove the seeds and inside of the pepper. Stuff it with herbed cheese mixture, then drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

You can use as much or little of the cheese mixture you would like. Also,
you can prepare the cheese mixture the day before.

Adapted from Garden of Eden CSA website.



Market Pizza: Caramelized Onions, Bleu Cheese, and Squash Blossoms

The other day I was working in the market and asked a couple near the cheese cooler if I could help them pick out a cheese.  They said they were looking for cheese for pizza.  I began to explain how we were about to get some mozzarella in, when they interrupted me and told me that no, they weren't intersted in mozzarella but in blue cheese.  They were just trying to choose between the several different varieties we offer.

Blue cheese on a pizza?  I was a bit incredulous.  But they assured me it was delicious:  with caramelized onions and roasted pecans.  I was beginning to see it.  It sounded amazing.

And so that's what we had for dinner that night.  I threw a crust together from the recipe my mom taught me growing up, sliced up a big sweet onion and cooked it slowly over medium heat in lots of good olive oil. Once the onions were all beautifully caramel colored, I spread them liberally over the crust.  I dabbed on big chunks of bleu cheese (I used a mix of different kinds, left over from sampling cheese in the market early in the day).  And then at the last minute, I remembered I still had a bag of squash blossoms in the fridge.  Perfect.  I took off their stems, pulled out their innards (someone warned me they were a bit bitter) and arranged them on the pizza in a starburst shape.  No pecans.  I skipped the nuts since we didn't have any in the house.  (My husband wasn't home from work yet.)

I slid the whole thing onto my preheated pizza stone--which was actually a very inelegant process which ended up smooshing half the pizza.  In the end it didn't matter though.  It was delicious.  The squash blossoms add a delicate flavor that's almost like chantarelles and their texture blends beautifully with the onions.

Local Myth, are you listening?  We have a new pizza recipe for you!