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Sweet Piquanté Peppers Stuffed with Lentil and Walnut Pâté (Vegan)

Sweet, tangy piquanté peppers from a jar, filled with a smoky lentil and walnut pâté. A quick vegan snack or starter with 4g of protein, ready in 15 minutes.

Snack

15

Serves 4 (4 peppers each)

Two small, glossy, round red peppers filled with a coarse lentil and walnut pâté on a weathered wooden board

Ingredients

  • 16 sweet piquanté peppers from a jar (often sold as Peppadew, about 175g/6oz drained)
  • 120g/4oz drained tinned green lentils (half a 400g/14oz tin; use the rest in a salad or soup)
  • 50g/1¾oz/½ cup walnuts
  • 1 tbsp (15ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp (15ml) lemon juice
  • 1 small clove garlic (about 4g), crushed
  • Half a tsp smoked paprika, a pinch of salt and black pepper
  • A few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley (about 5g), finely chopped

Method

  1. Drain the peppers well and stand them upside down on kitchen paper while you make the filling.
  2. Put the walnuts in a dry frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat for 3 minutes, shaking the pan, until they smell toasted. Cool for a minute.
  3. Blitz the walnuts in a small food processor to coarse crumbs. Add the lentils, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, smoked paprika, salt and pepper and pulse to a coarse, spreadable pâté. Add a teaspoon of water if it is too stiff. Stir in the parsley.
  4. Spoon or pipe the pâté into the peppers, about 12g (a heaped 2 teaspoons) each. Serve 4 peppers each.
  5. Filled peppers keep in a covered container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Not suitable for freezing.

Why it works

Four filled peppers give you about 4g of protein and 3g of fibre for 187 calories, with 13g of carbohydrate, more than half of it from the sugar in the pepper brine.

A snack that keeps blood sugar steady. Lentils bring protein and fibre, and walnuts bring healthy fats. Their protein, fibre and fat balance the sugar from the peppers, so this snack is unlikely to cause a sharp rise in blood sugar.

Why walnuts. Walnuts are the richest common nut in ALA, the plant form of omega-3 fat. Toasting them for a few minutes deepens their flavour and takes away any bitterness.

About the peppers. Sweet piquanté peppers are small, round chilli peppers pickled in a sweet and sour brine, with very little heat. The brine contains sugar, which is why they taste sweet, but each pepper is small and 4 of them come to about 8g of sugar. Check the jar label for sulphites if you avoid them.

Contains tree nuts (walnuts). Move the leftover lentils to a covered container in the fridge and use them within 2 days. For more savoury snacks, try the chilli garlic edamame or the crispy baked kale chips.