Mozzarella peppers

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 3 large bell peppers
• 3 balls of mozzarella
• 1 cup of crème fraîche, approx. 150 g
• 6 slices of country ham
• 2 slice(s) Gouda, young
• 6 tbsp olive oil, spicy

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

also vegetarian possible

Wash the peppers. Remove the stems, including the cores and the white inner skin, so that the mozzarella fits inside. Using a tablespoon, spread the crème fraîche evenly over three of the peppers (leave some crème fraîche for the final step). There should be four tablespoons of crème fraîche in the cup. Put a spoonful into each pepper. Cut a slice of cheese into three equal pieces and place one-third of each piece on top of the crème fraîche in each pepper. Add two tablespoons of hot olive oil to each pepper (hot olive oil is important, otherwise the whole recipe will be tasteless). Place a ball of mozzarella wrapped in two slices of country ham into each pepper. Spread the remaining crème fraîche and the second third-cut slice of young Gouda on top of the three peppers. Place the peppers in a hot oven at 175°C (convection oven) for about 40 minutes. It may be ready in as little as 30 minutes, depending on the oven. Notes: When buying peppers, make sure they can stand upright and are large enough to fit a ball of mozzarella. The color of the peppers doesn’t matter. If you like it sweet, use red or yellow peppers, or – for a more neutral dish – green peppers. You can make your own spicy olive oil by adding 50g of dried chili peppers or piri-piri to 500ml of olive oil and letting it stand for three months. Turn the bottle occasionally. A tip: If you knead the peppers in their packaging before adding them to the olive oil, the heat of the chili pepper or piri-piri will really come through. For vegetarians, simply leave out the ham.