Whipped Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppadews

With minimal prep and robust flavor, these stuffed Peppadew peppers make a great holiday appetizer. The filling can be made a day in advance and stored in a ziptop bag ready to pipe into the peppers. The peppers can also be stuffed a few hours in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to garnish and serve.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. goat cheese, softened

• 2 oz. creme fraiche*

• 2 green onions, white and light green portions, very thinly sliced (divided, reserving some for garnish)

• 1/4 teaspoon paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• Pinch of cayenne pepper (up to about 1/8 teaspoon, depending on preference)

• Kosher salt (to taste)

• Fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

• 20-30 Peppadew peppers (the number you can fill will depend on their size)**

• 1 lemon (for garnish, zest only)

• 1-2 tablespoons raw pine nuts (for garnish)

• Maldon salt (or other flaky salt, for garnish)

• Electric mixer (recommended)

• Ziptop bag (for piping)

Instructions

Combine the goat cheese, creme fraiche, 3/4 of the sliced green onion, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on a medium-high speed until light and fluffy (at least about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally). Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Transfer the whipped goat cheese mixture to a ziptop bag. This mixture can be stored in the fridge up to a day in advance. Remove the bag from the fridge about 30 minutes in advance of filling to allow the mixture to come up to temp a bit. While you’re waiting for the mixture to come up to temp, lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat. Set the pine nuts aside on a cutting board to cool and then finely chop.

When you’re ready to stuff the peppers, arrange the peppers on plate or cutting board lined with a sheet of paper towel (to absorb any excess olive oil/brine from the bottom of the peppers - it’ll make for nicer plating later). Snip the corner of the bag to make an opening no wider than the smallest opening in the peppers (about 1/4 inch in diameter). Pipe the mixture into the peppers one at a time, filling to just above the opening. If you’re not serving the peppers immediately, loosely cover and pop them back into the fridge for up to about 2 hours. We recommend garnishing the peppers just before serving.

Garnish the stuffed peppers with the reserved sliced green onion, chopped pine nuts, and lemon zest. Finally, sprinkle a bit of Maldon over the tops of the peppers. Arrange on a platter and serve.

Notes

*You can substitute in cream cheese if you’re in a pinch, but we recommend creme fraiche for its lighter texture and more savory flavor.

**You can usually find Peppadew peppers at your local market as part of the olive bar, or jarred. As a fun trivia note, Peppadew is actually a trademark for a pickled Juanita pepper. If you can’t find Peppadew peppers, you can easily substitute in other varieties of pickled cherry peppers.