Stuffed peppers with minced meat and rice are one of the best-loved dishes for people celebrating their name day on St Demetrius' Day. The last thick-walled peppers can still be found at the market in Burgas. While the peppers bake, you have time for your guests.
Ingredients
- 8thick-walled peppers (about 900 g)
- 400 gminced meat (pork and beef)
- 1onion (about 150 g)
- 100 grice
- 3 tbspoil
- 1 tbspsweet paprika
- 1 tspdried savory
- ½ bunchparsley
- 1 tspsalt
- ¼ tspblack pepper
- 2medium tomatoes (about 300 g)
- 350 mlhot water
Method
Prepare the peppers
Wash the peppers and cut off the top around the stem. Keep the tops. Remove the seeds and set the peppers aside.
Choose peppers with a flat base so they stand upright and don't lean.
Fry the onion
Heat 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat and fry the finely chopped onion for 5 minutes, until translucent. Take the pan off the hob, add the paprika and stir.
Paprika burns in seconds and turns bitter, so add it off the heat.
Cook the meat
Put the pan back on the hob, add the minced meat and stir for up to 5 minutes, until it loses its pink colour and breaks into small crumbs. Take the pan off the heat.
Mix the filling
Rinse the rice under running water until the water runs clear, then mix it with the meat. Add the finely chopped parsley, savory, salt and black pepper.
Fill the peppers
Fill each pepper three-quarters full, because the rice swells and stretches the walls. Cover with the saved tops.
Overfilled peppers split most often.
Arrange in the dish
Pack the peppers upright and close together in a deep baking dish so they prop each other up. Grate the tomatoes, mix them with 1 tbsp of oil and spoon the mixture between the peppers. Then pour in the hot water.
Bake in two stages
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, until the tops turn pink and the rice is soft.
How to serve
Serve the peppers with yoghurt and a thick slice of fresh bread to mop up the sauce from the dish.
Good to know
Vegetables stuffed with rice and meat are common in Balkan and Middle Eastern cooking. In Bulgaria, peppers are most often stuffed with minced meat and rice and flavoured with savory.
Per serving (approximate): 490 kcal · protein 22 g · fat 30 g · carbohydrates 33 g