Troll Eye Pepper Bites
The trick here is that the whole look of the dish appears in the last second, when you pick up a knife. Until then it is just a pepper, packed tight with cheese and left in the fridge. Then one cut and there is a board of eyes staring back. Children love it; adults quietly eat half the platter.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Rest
- 2 h
- Total
- 2 h 35 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 160 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Any thick fresh cheese works, or 200 g of full-fat ready-made smooth curd cheese.
Makes: about 18 rounds
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Prepare the peppers
Cut off the tops and pull out the core and seeds without damaging the walls. Each pepper has to stay a whole tube — that is what makes the rounds come out even.
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Step 2: Boil and slice the eggs
Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, cool them in cold water and peel. Slice one into rounds for the whites of the eyes; chop the other into the filling.
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Step 3: Mix the filling
Combine the cream cheese, chopped egg, dill, garlic, salt and pepper. It needs to be stiff: a loose filling will not hold its shape and runs out as you slice.
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Step 4: Pack the peppers
Fill them with a long-handled spoon, pressing down as you go so no air pockets are left. An air pocket is a hole in the eye once it is cut.
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Step 5: Chill
Wrap each pepper tightly in cling film, twist the ends and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Without this you cannot slice them cleanly.
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Step 6: Slice and assemble
Unwrap and cut into rounds 1.5 cm thick with a sharp knife. Top each with a round of egg white and an olive in the centre. Serve straight away.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Wipe the knife every two or three slices. Cheese sticks to the blade and drags the filling with it, turning a tidy eye into a smear.
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Variation
Replace the dill with 50 g of grated hard cheese and half a teaspoon of paprika. The filling turns yellowish and the eye looks considerably worse, in the best way.
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Swap
Any thick fresh cheese works, or 200 g of full-fat ready-made smooth curd cheese.
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Storage
Serve the rounds immediately, but the wrapped whole peppers keep for two days in the fridge and only get firmer.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 160 kcal | 960 kcal |
| Protein | 7 g | 42 g |
| Fat | 13 g | 78 g |
| Carbohydrates | 4 g | 24 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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