Alice Zaslavsky’s Jalapeño poppers

RECIPE

Alice Zaslavsky’s Jalapeño poppers

Makes 12 poppers

Use this recipe as a base and add your own spin to the filling – be it extra herbs and spices or doubling down on cheese.

Ingredients: 12 jalapeño chillies (see tips below) 200g cream cheese ½ tsp smoked paprika (plus extra for sprinkling) ½ tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp coriander (cilantro) stems, finely chopped (you can use the leaves for garnishing if you like) ¼ tsp salt, plus extra for sprinkling 100g cheddar, grated

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Hold your chillies by the stems and use a small serrated knife to make a slit in the top. Using the knife or a teaspoon, scoop out the membrane and seeds. Give the chillies a tap and a rinse to get rid of any sneaky seeds.

3. Put the cream cheese, paprika, garlic powder, coriander stems and salt in a bowl and mix together with a fork, mushing to combine.

4. Use a teaspoon to press the mixture into each popper, leaving an indent for the cheddar.

5. Fill the indent with cheddar. Pop the poppers on the baking tray and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. If you’d like a little extra burnish, give them a quick blast under the oven’s grill setting. 6. Sprinkle with a smattering of paprika and serve.

Tips: This recipe works with both red and green jalapeños because they’re actually the same chilli, although the green ones do hold their shape slightly better because, being less ripe, they are firmer.

Keeping the cheddar separate from the cream cheese helps save the filling from bubbling over, but you can mix it all together if you’re pressed for popper-prepping time