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.

1 hr 40 minprep 30 min · cooking 1 hr 10 min
4 servingsDinner
Easydifficulty
490 kcalper serving

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

  1. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Prepare the peppers

  2. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Fry the onion

  3. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Cook the meat

  4. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Mix the filling

  5. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Fill the peppers

  6. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Arrange in the dish

  7. 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.

    stuffed peppers — Bake in two stages

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