If you are looking for a colourful and tasty side dish or appetiser, these pepper boats with herbed cream cheese filling grilled on a cedar plank are a sure winner. If you serve about 6 of them to each person, you can call it a meal.
In this recipe we use basil, chives and coriander but feel free to use whatever herbs you have handy. Enjoy the creaminess from the filling, the bite from the garlic, the freshness from the herbs, plus the sweet crunch from the blackened peppers.
Cedar Planked Herbed Cream Cheese Capsicums – serves 4
- 1 large cedar plank
- 250g cream cheese, softened
- 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
- 2 large red, yellow, or orange capsicums, seeded, and quartered
- olive oil for brushing and drizzling
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- ¼ cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
Step 1:
Soak the cedar plank for an hour, fully submerged in water, and prepare your grill to medium-high heat.
Step 2:
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese until it’s lovely and smooth. Beat in the garlic, basil, and chives then set aside.
Step 3:
Brush the skin side of each capsicum quarter with olive oil. Put them on the soaked plank, spoon some cream cheese into the middle of each, making sure you don’t overstuff, then place the plank on the grill and cover. Grill for 5 minutes, or until the bottoms are scorched and the cheese has melted. Sprinkle them with chopped tomatoes, fresh coriander, and drizzle of olive oil then serve.
Filling and not spilling the quartered capsicums is the hardest part of this recipe, so unless you have a steady hand make sure to keep some paper towels handy. If you have some herbed cream cheese mix left over, it’s great on bagels for breakfast or spread it on your sandwiches for lunch.
