Pimientos del piquillo rellenos, or classic Spanish stuffed peppers with a tuna filling! Hey you can also fill them up with whatever ingredient you want… These are great fun to make at home!
I love Spanish pimientos del piquillo rellenos as a little tapa or even for lunch.
Rellenos means stuffed, pimientos are a type of Spanish pepper.
Have you heard of them before?
Piquillo Peppers
You can find these piquillo peppers in brine pretty much everywhere here in Spain.
They are quite sweet in taste and because their skins are first charred and then removed, it also adds a little smokiness to them as well.
Allow me quote Wikipedia on this one:
“The piquillo pepper is a variety of chili, Capsicum annuum, has a sweet taste with no heat, fruits about 7 cm long, well suited for growing in pots, that is traditionally from Northern Spain near the town of Lodosa. Its name is derived from the Spanish word for “little beak”.
Interesting!
Easy Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos de Atun
You can stuff them with whatever filling you like really!
I went for a simple ingredient this time: canned tuna in olive oil.
Other version of these stuffed piquillo peppers contain cooked and shredded chicken, boiled rice or boiled salt cod. I have even seen some with minced meat!
I like them served cold on a hot summer’s day.
Warm or Cold
But you can also find these stuffed peppers (the larger ones mainly) baked in the oven and served as a kind of gratin, sometimes with béchamel sauce or cheese on top: check my warm stuffed peppers with salt cod in a creamy sauce!
These peppers are also delicious in soups.
Do you need some inspiration?
Then you should also check out my piquillo soup with fresh chorizo and feta cheese! This heavenly soup is smoky, salty and sweet all at the same time!
You should try it!
Enjoy!
Easy Pimientos del Piquillo Rellenos Recipe
Pimientos del piquillo rellenos, classic Spanish stuffed peppers with tuna! Or fill them up with whatever ingredient you want...
- 4 canned piquillo peppers
- 2 oz canned tuna in olive oil (55 g)
- 1 tbsp red onion (chopped)
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- ½ tsp dried herbs
- ½ tsp paprika powder (smoked)
- garlic powder
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
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Rinse the piquillo peppers gently because they are very fragile and tear easily. Also rinse the inside and remove any seeds or any charred bits of skin.
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Place the nicely on top of each other and chop off the ends to make them equal in size.
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Don’t thrown the trimmed bits away, you can make a little sauce with them later on. Then let the peppers drain on some kitchen paper for now until needed later. Add the canned tuna and chopped red onion to a medium mixing bowl.
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Stir and a small pinch of the garlic powder together with the smoked paprika and the dried herbs. Season also with a little bit of pepper and salt.
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Stir the tuna again. The add the freshly chopped parsley.
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Stir and check the seasoning. Add extra pepper, salt or smoked paprika to taste if necessary. Then carefully stuff the drained piquillo pepper with the tuna filling using a teaspoon. Do this carefully and make sure not to tear the fragile peppers. Then place them on a clean serving plate.
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Like I said, you can make a sauce with the trimmed bits of piquillo pepper. Add them together with a tablespoon of milk and a tablespoon of olive oil to a blender.
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Pulse into a creamy red sauce.
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You can pour the sauce on top of the stuffed peppers or serve it as a dipping sauce on the side.
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