I’ve mentioned before on this blog about my original love of fried appetizers (like my love for fried cauliflower…)
However, I’ve noticed on the rare occasion I do go out and order an appetizer, I leave feeling gross and realizing that I didn’t really taste the food but more tasted the grease.
So, I set out to whip up one of my other favorite appetizers: jalapeño poppers.
And I failed.
I have actually failed numerous times with this recipe. First I bought one of those “one tool, one kitchen job” items that was suppose to ream out the inside of the popper while still leaving the pepper intact. So I stuffed the inside full of cheese, rolled the outside in bread crumbs and baked away.
The result was too much crunchy pepper.
On my second attempt, I sliced the pepper in half and again rolled it in bread crumbs. The result was still too much crunchy pepper.
This was one of those recipes that I needed to sit on for a bit. However, the answer was a lot simpler than I was trying to make it (which seems to be the story of my life…)
The pepper needed to be baked before I filled it so that it was already partially soft and roasted.
The result were these bad boys. They have the creamy goodness inside and the soft (easily chewable) pepper with crunchy bread crumb outside. Plus (I think at least) they have more taste than their fried counterparts (and they are a little more friendlier on the waistline.
I think once I get a bunch of peppers from the summer I’ll make a bunch of these up and freeze them so that when I have people over, I can pull these out and bake them up!
Trial and Error wins again!
- 5 Jalapeño peppers
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 4oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ cup mozzarella cheese
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese, divided
- salt and pepper
- 1 slice of bread
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- Preheat oven to 375˚.
- Slice jalapeños in half and carefully remove seeds. I find a grapefruit spoon works well. Place jalapeños cut side up in a pan or on a baking tray. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Jalapeños should be soft and beginning to curl.
- While roasting the peppers, in a food processor pulse bread until it is crumbly. Add in ½ cup of parmesan cheese and drizzle olive oil on top. Pulse a few more times until combined. Remove from food processor and set aside.
- Also in the food processor (with the bread crumbs removed) pulse clove of garlic until it is finely chopped. Add in cream cheese, salt, pepper, mozzarella cheese, and remaining ¼ cup of parmesan. Pulse until mixture is smooth. Add in milk and continue to pulse until blended, scrapping down the sides as needed. Spoon out mixture into a piping back or ziplock bag (with the corner cut off.)
- Pipe cream cheese mixture in to each pepper. Sprinkle and lightly press bread crumbs into the tops of the peppers. Return to oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Cheese should be puffed and bread crumbs should be golden brown. Serve immediately.
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