Italian Stuffed Peppers, plus Tomatoes and Anchovies

These good Italian stuffed peppers are filled with juicy cherry tomatoes, lots of garlic, anchovies and basil. A easy and light summer lunch or side dish that's full of flavour.

Quick recipe overview

• Suited to: a light summer lunch, dinner or side dish served with salad, meat or fish.
• Time: 55 minutes to 1 hour
• Flavour: sweet peppers with garlicky, tangy roasted tomatoes.

We've been making these stuffed peppers for years, and they never disappoint. They're easy and such a great way to make the most of summer produce.

Use fresh, ripe summer tomatoes when they are at their best. They add so much flavour to this dish, and the flavour intensifies, becoming beautifully sweet once roasted.

We've also listed some of our top tips and how we love to serve them below. Enjoy!

Ingredient notes

• Red bell peppers: we love using red bell peppers and use small to medium-sized. You can use any colour of bell pepper you like or even a mix. bear in mind that green peppers tend to have a more savoury flavour than sweet.
• Anchovies: if you don't like anchovies, you can leave them out. We'd be tempted to add something else briny for extra flavour, such as olives, capers or sun-dried tomatoes.
• Garlic: fresh garlic is a must for this recipe; it won't be the same if you use powder.

Top tips for making Italian stuffed peppers

Add the tomatoes cut side up – make sure the majority of the tomatoes are stuffed into the peppers cut side up; otherwise, they fill up with too much juice and won't concentrate in flavour as much.

Prep in advance: you can stuff the peppers in advance and keep them stored in the fridge. Don't season the tomatoes with salt and pepper in advance, or it'll draw out a lot of moisture. Instead, sprinkle some on right before baking.

Season everything well: even though anchovies are salty, you still need to season the inside of each pepper and the tomatoes. There is a lot of moisture in the peppers and tomatoes, so they still need to be seasoned well.

Serving suggestions

We love these with some homemade basil pesto on top; it's good. These can be served as part of an antipasto spread with other good nibbles such as eggplant bruschettaartichoke dipburrata and mortadella crostinibreadsticks meats, cheese and marinated olives.

If you're serving these as a light lunch or dinner, then they are great with a simple side salad such as our arugula, lemon and parmigiano salad with orzo and grilled marinated veg or with breaded chicken cutlets.

More Italian summer recipes to try

Sides

La Peperonata – Bell Peppers in Tomato Sauce

Sides

Peperoni Ammollicati (Peppers and Breadcrumbs)

Mains

Pollo ai Peperoni alla Romana (Roman Chicken and Peppers)

Pasta

Paccheri alla Vittorio (Tomato Butter Sauce)

Ingredients

Makes 6 servings

• 3 red bell peppers
• 14 oz (390g) cherry tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 6 anchovies fillets
• 6 large basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350℉ fan or 200℃/400℉ static.

2. Cut the peppers in half and remove the white membrane and seeds inside. Rub the peppers all over with olive oil and place them in a baking dish. Season the inside of each pepper with salt and pepper.

3. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them in a bowl. Season them well with salt and pepper then set aside.

4. Finely slice the garlic cloves, then add them to each pepper. Add one anchovy fillet on top, then one basil leaf torn into pieces.

5. Add the cherry tomatoes to each pepper (make sure the majority of them are cut side up), then roast in the oven for 45 minutes or until the peppers are soft. Serve warm.

Kitchen notes

• Quick note on amounts the amount of cherry tomatoes you will need will depend on how big your peppers are, so you might need more or less.
• Storage the peppers will keep well stored in the fridge for up to 2-3 days and can be reheated (covered with foil) in the oven until piping hot throughout.