Veggie Christmas: Roasted Pepper Stuffed With Egg-Fried Rice

Being a vegetarian at Christmas can be a bit grim. Seeing everyone else tuck into a lovingly prepared roast turkey while we doggedly plough through yet another tragic vegetarian alternative can be a tad miserable. I could live without ever having to wash down a bland, dry nut roast with plenty of wine again. And frankly those pallid Quorn family roasts go into the oven looking like oversized marital aids, and come out exactly the same colour as they were at the start. Unnatural. It's witchcraft, I tell you.

So I'm going to test a few alternative ideas over the next few weeks, starting with roasted pepper stuffed with egg-fried rice. You can use whatever vegetables you have handy in the stuffing, but go for as many different colours as you can to keep it looking vibrant. There was loads of the stuffing left over - enough for another half pepper - so I piled it up on the side. You could probably present it a bit more lovingly than I did. I was starving.

Recipe adapted from Paul Rankin's.

You will need:

For the roasted pepper:

• 1/2 red pepper, deseeded
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

For the stuffing:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 75g mushrooms, sliced
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• 60g basmati rice, cooked
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Fresh parsley, chopped

Make it!

1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 6. For the roasted pepper, pop the red pepper half onto a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and seasoning, and roast for 6-8 minutes or until soft.
2. Now for the stuffing. Heat the oil over a medium-heat and fry the onion, garlic, red pepper for 3-4 minutes until softened.
3. Add the mushrooms and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the rice and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Make a well in the centre, add the egg and fry, stirring constantly, until cooked.
5. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil and stir through. Mix in the parsley and spring onions.
6. To serve, fill the roasted pepper with the rice.