Eggplant and Feta Stuffed Bell Peppers

One of my favorite cooking exercises is creating a dish based upon what is available in the kitchen. No cookbooks, no recipes, only taking inventory and imagining it all together in a final meal. I will admit that these exercises are not always a resounding success. But these stuffed peppers were very good.

Here are the things I found: several small green peppers from our neighbor's garden, a large ripe tomato, some leftover rice, 3 Japanese eggplants (I bought too many for another recipe), leftover marinara sauce, feta cheese.

I made the stuffing in a skillet, but then was faced with crispy, raw peppers. While I like bell peppers raw and also tender crisp in a stir fry, I want my pepper completely tender when it is stuffed. I could have blanched the peppers, or baked them, but I decided to use the pressure cooker. In only 4 minutes, the peppers were soft and tender.

The amount of stuffing listed here will accomodate 4 large peppers, but I stuffed it into several very small peppers.

Eggplant and Feta Stuffed Bell Peppers
4 large bell peppers--any color
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 plump cloves garlic, minced
Approx. 1 pound eggplant, diced
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup tomato sauce or marinara sauce
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 oz. feta cheese, diced

Slice off the tops of each pepper. Remove seeds and membranes and set peppers aside. Chop the pepper tops and saute them in olive oil along with the onions and eggplant, until tender. Stir in the tomatoes, garlic, and oregano and saute for a couple of minutes more. Add rice and cook until heated through. Fold in the feta cheese cubes and add salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff the mixture into the peppers. Place the stuffed peppers on a steam rack that will fit into the pressure cooker and top each with some of the tomato sauce. Lower the rack into the pressure cooker which has about a cup of water in the bottom. Cover the pressure cooker, bring up to full pressure, and cook for four minutes. Release pressure and serve right away with additional tomato sauce.