This is a lovely and comforting Romanian main dish i love very much. My mum's recipe, below is delicious! It is a meat dish (the peppers are stuffed with a mix of beef and pork mince) but we also adapt it for the religious "fasts" stuffing the peppers only with rice and vegetables. (for 40 days before Easter and 40 days before Christmas the more religious Romanian Orthodox Christians do not eat meat, cheese or eggs).
This is a lovely and comforting Romanian main dish i love very much. My mum's recipe, below is delicious! It is a meat dish (the peppers are stuffed with a mix of beef and pork mince) but we also adapt it for the religious "fasts" stuffing the peppers only with rice and vegetables. (for 40 days before Easter and 40 days before Christmas the more religious Romanian Orthodox Christians do not eat meat, cheese or eggs).
6 large red peppers (or yellow or you could use both - choose rounder, fat ones)
80 grams rice (white)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
sweet paprika (to taste)
water (cold, a little bit)
2 tins chopped tomatoes (preferably with herbs, such as Italian chopped Tomatoes or chopped tomatoes with basil)
3 medium onions (diced)
spring onions (a few, for extra flavour)
oil (or dripping)
1 tablespoon tomato puree (heaped)
1 tablespoon demerara sugar (preferably however in Romania, Demerara is rare so caster sugar is used instead)
1 tub sour cream (a big tub, for serving)
13¼ ounces ground beef
13¼ ounces ground pork (mix with the beef mince)
6 large red bell peppers (or yellow or you could use both - choose rounder, fat ones)
2⅚ ounces rice (white)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
sweet paprika (to taste)
water (cold, a little bit)
2 tins diced tomatoes (preferably with herbs, such as Italian chopped Tomatoes or chopped tomatoes with basil)
3 medium onions (diced)
scallions (a few, for extra flavour)
oil (or dripping)
1 tablespoon tomato puree (heaped)
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (preferably however in Romania, Demerara is rare so caster sugar is used instead)
1 tub sour cream (a big tub, for serving)
Method
Romanian Stuffed Peppers is a community recipe submitted by VikingPrincess and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.
Take the peppers and cut carefully a “lid” in their tops, extracting the core and the seeds. Be careful as to not spoil / cut the pepper’s body.
Wash them in cold water inside and out, and then stand them upside down on kitchen roll to drain.
Prepare the stuffing by mixing the two types of mince, the chopped onions, the rice, salt, pepper and paprika and sprinkle a bit of cold water on the mixture. Also add one tin of chopped tomatoes (but drain them first of all juice). Drain the mixture if too juicy.
Stuff the peppers by pushing the stuffing right into the bottom of the peppers so they don’t lose their shape whilst cooking. Fill them up but don’t overstuff them or they’ll crack during boiling.
Heat up some oil (in Romania we use dripping for more flavour) and when it’s hot, place the peppers in and fry them – on every side – until they look golden – rusty. Be careful when handling them not to spill the stuffing.
Take a saucepan & place the stuffed peppers inside – either “mouth to mouth” or with the “mouth” towards the wall of the saucepan so that the filling won’t fall out.
Pour boiling water over the peppers so that they are nearly covered. When the rice is cooked (try it by tasting a bit from the stuffing) add the other can of chopped tomatoes but this time add the juice too. Add 1 heaped spoonful of tomato puree and a teaspoon of sugar.
If you have any stuffing left, fry it with some diced onion and left-over tomatoes. You can add it later around the peppers when serving them.
When the peppers are softened a bit and the rice is done, transfer the peppers into an ovenproof dish and into the pre-heated oven for a while, until about three quarters of the juice has evaporated and they are golden-brown.
Serve hot, with generous dollops of sour cream on top – they’re delicious that way!
Take the peppers and cut carefully a “lid” in their tops, extracting the core and the seeds. Be careful as to not spoil / cut the pepper’s body.
Wash them in cold water inside and out, and then stand them upside down on kitchen roll to drain.
Prepare the stuffing by mixing the two types of mince, the chopped onions, the rice, salt, pepper and paprika and sprinkle a bit of cold water on the mixture. Also add one tin of diced tomatoes (but drain them first of all juice). Drain the mixture if too juicy.
Stuff the peppers by pushing the stuffing right into the bottom of the peppers so they don’t lose their shape whilst cooking. Fill them up but don’t overstuff them or they’ll crack during boiling.
Heat up some oil (in Romania we use dripping for more flavour) and when it’s hot, place the peppers in and fry them – on every side – until they look golden – rusty. Be careful when handling them not to spill the stuffing.
Take a saucepan & place the stuffed peppers inside – either “mouth to mouth” or with the “mouth” towards the wall of the saucepan so that the filling won’t fall out.
Pour boiling water over the peppers so that they are nearly covered. When the rice is cooked (try it by tasting a bit from the stuffing) add the other can of diced tomatoes but this time add the juice too. Add 1 heaped spoonful of tomato puree and a teaspoon of sugar.
If you have any stuffing left, fry it with some diced onion and left-over tomatoes. You can add it later around the peppers when serving them.
When the peppers are softened a bit and the rice is done, transfer the peppers into an ovenproof dish and into the pre-heated oven for a while, until about three quarters of the juice has evaporated and they are golden-brown.
Serve hot, with generous dollops of sour cream on top – they’re delicious that way!
There are different ways to do this recipe but yours is the closest to my moms. There is a slight variation. We use tomato slices as "lids" and stand them up. Then fill with water. Once they are almost done we make the sauce. Using a tablespoon of tomato paste and one tablespoon of flour we mix that in a bowl and then add a bit of water from the peppers to make a think sauce. Place inside with peppers and mix it in a bit. This makes for a nice tasty sauce that go along with the peppers. French bread and the sauce are my fave... Also, we serve it with plain yogurt not sour cream.
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Posted by blessedgemz on 8th May 2011
Show more commentsThere are different ways to do this recipe but yours is the closest to my moms. There is a slight variation. We use tomato slices as "lids" and stand them up. Then fill with water. Once they are almost done we make the sauce. Using a tablespoon of tomato paste and one tablespoon of flour we mix that in a bowl and then add a bit of water from the peppers to make a think sauce. Place inside with peppers and mix it in a bit. This makes for a nice tasty sauce that go along with the peppers. French bread and the sauce are my fave... Also, we serve it with plain yogurt not sour cream.