What we got cookin'

Tray and I love cooking, especially together. It often makes for a cheap date night or a way for us to multi-task on our busy days. Either way, it’s so fun to talk, laugh and bebop to tunes in the kitchen all while learning to make something new; not too mention it really speeds up the cleaning process when you have four hands in the kitchen;) To help us keep in mind the recipes we want to add to our collection, we rate the recipes on a scale of one to ten. Here’s a recent 10 on our scale. A super easy and scrumpdidliumpsious appetizer.

Piquillo Pepper and Cheese Toasts

First featured in Martha Stewart Living, June 2011

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 baguette, thinly sliced into rounds

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Piquillo peppers (I found a 12-ounce jar at World Market and have also used large peppers that I found at the Dillon’s Olive Bar)

4 ounces sliced aged provolone cheese, cut into one-inch squares

Optional Garnish: 1 scallion, pale-green part only, thinly sliced on the bias

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drain and pat dry the piquillo peppers.

Brush both sides of baguette slices with 2 tablespoons oil.

Toast on a rimmed baking sheet until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes.

Stuff each pepper with a cheese square. Place 1 stuffed pepper on each toast.

Bake until cheese melts, 8 to 10 minutes. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil.

Garnish with scallion.

Make it your own!

We have mixed these up a couple of times. 

Here are some tried and true options:

Jazz it up: Garnish with red pepper flakes.

Ham it up: Wrap ham or pepperoni around the provolone cube.

Ground it up: Fill the rest of the pepper with sausage or hamburger.

Switch it up: Use this same idea but switch your pepper and/or cheese to your favorite. It doesn’t have to be a stuffed pepper - we made some with slices of red pepper instead. They were delicious. We still want to try putting pepper jack cheese cubes inside!

The possibilities with this recipe are endless and all easy! Thanks, Martha!