Rajas con Crema (Creamed Pepper Tacos)

Rajas con Crema is traditionally made with Padron peppers but our harvest of summer Padrons is long gone so instead I picked the last of our regular green peppers from the front garden and was very pleasantly surprised by how good they tasted in these oozy tacos. On a miserable Thursday night a tin of corn and a humble green pepper suddenly became something joyously Mexican as the very British rain hammered against the windows.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 8 Small Tacos
5 medium sized green peppers
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 small white onion
250g tinned sweetcorn
3 green chillies
2 garlic cloves
125g sour cream
40g grated mozzarella
1/4 tsp each of salt, cumin and cinnamon
8 small tacos
1 lime
coriander leaves

• Put the peppers in a baking tray then grill under a very high heat so that the skins blister and blacken. Keep an eye on them and turn to blacken on each side.
• Once the peppers are blackened all over put them into a bowl and cover with a heavy tea towel. This will trap the steam inside the bowl and make it easy to peel the skins away from the flesh of the peppers.
• Peel the onion and cut in half then slice each half into thin slices. Put the vegetable oil into a large skillet on a medium high heat then tip in the onions and sprinkle over the salt. You want the onions to soften but not take on too much colour so stir regularly for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft.
• Peel and chop the garlic. Finely chop the chillies (leave the seeds in if you like it hot) and drain the corn. Add the garlic, chillies, corn and spices to the pan and stir then after 30 seconds turn the heat down to medium.
• Slice the peeled peppers into strips then add to the pan and warm them through for 1 minute. Add the sour cream and grated cheese to the pan and stir over the heat until the cheese melts.
• Divide the mixture between the eight tacos and squeeze over a little lime juice then sprinkle with some coriander leaves.