Oven-Roasted Stuffed Poblanos

Believe it or not, I have actually cooked once or twice since my last blog post (in AUGUST)! However, since my crazy teaching schedule started, I've been far too reliant upon frozen food and my local grubhole. I'm also quite fond of the relatively new Tory Row in Harvard Square, where I eat dinner every Wednesday night.

So, now that I've had two weeks to adjust to the insanity rigors of my schedule, I figured it was high-time to start cooking again. So, on Saturday, I picked up some poblano peppers, chipotle-flavored locally-made goat cheese, and some fingerling potatoes from the Farmers Market. Tonight I whipped up this concoction:

Oven-Roasted Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Spinach & Chipotle Goat Cheese

Starring:

Poblano Peppers

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 poblano peppers
• half a large onion; or one small onion, chopped
  
• one clove garlic, chopped
• olive oil (recommended amounts in directions)
• organic fresh spinach (1-2 bunches--remember that spinach really does cook down to nothing!)
  
• 1 small "log" of goat cheese (I used chipotle goat cheese from Valley View Farm)

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 400F.
• Wash spinach thoroughly (I recommend letting it soak in a bowl full of water, twice through, then running just the leaves through a salad spinner. I HATE sand in my spinach. :))
• Remove stems from spinach and set leaves aside.
• Wash poblanos, lay the poblano flat and slice a "T " cut into each (see photo), pulling the seeds out with your fingers (it may be easiest to turn it upside down over a trash can). {Thanks to Elly for this hint on cutting poblanos!}

Poblanos await their stuffing

• In a medium skillet, use 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to cook onion and garlic until onion is transparent and garlic is golden (roughly five minutes).
• Add spinach to skillet and LIGHTLY sauté until the leaves are just wilted. Set aside.
• Add a generous slice or two of the goat cheese inside each pepper.
• Stuff the spinach mixture into each pepper leaving just a little room on top.
• Slip one more slice of the goat cheese into the pepper.
• In a greased baking dish (or one drizzled with olive oil), place the four peppers with the stuffed side facing up. Drizzle a generous amount of olive oil over the peppers.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until peppers are tender (the skin should slightly blister in places, but not enough to slip off the pepper). The cheese will get softer, but won't "melt"
  
• Serve hot!

We had ours with an easy side of scalloped fingerling potatoes (dashed with Penzey's Seasoned Salt).