Recipe: Stuffed Peppers
Memory is a funny thing. I don’t think I actually ever had more than a fork full of a stuffed pepper when I was a kid. It was something my nanny, Barbara, would make for her family. I would stay at her house after school till about 5 or 6, but, on those nights when my parents had to work late and I had dinner with their family, I usually loved it. From her tacos, to breakfast for dinner, to the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had (I don’t know if that’s true, but I remember only liking hers and not any in a restaurant or that my parents would make), but, stuffed peppers were not my thing. However, I still have a memory of the flavor, even though I rarely ate more than a bite. Tomato based, paprika, spicy.
So, this is another comfort food post. Stuffed Peppers. These take a while to cook. You could do them with cooked rice and it would take less time, but I think long and slow is the way to go. When they do, the peppers melt in your mouth and the stuffing has become a wonderfully savory and fluffy filling. The perfect thing on a cold winter day.
Ingredients
4 Green Bell Peppers (you could use others, but I prefer the flavor of long roasted green peppers as they don’t get too sweet. You also want to choose peppers that can stand on their own)
1 lb ground beef
1 cup tomato sauce (recipe follows)
¼ cup uncooked rice
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
1-2 cups Chicken stock
1 tablespoon hot Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Begin by dicing the onion. Place a skillet on the stove and bring a tablespoon of olive oil to temperature and add the onion, sauteing for 5-10 mins or until translucent and sweated out. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 325.
Cut the tops off of the peppers. Then, reach and carefully pull out the ribs so that you have a clean pepper, ready to be stuffed. Place them in a deep baking dish.
In a large bowl, take the raw ground beef, the cooled onion and garlic mixture, the paprika, oregano, cumin, tomato sauce, salt and pepper, and mix together until it is evenly mixed. Stuff each pepper with the meat and rice mixture. Place back in the deep baking dish.
Place the dish into the oven and then pour 1-2 cups of chicken stock or enough to come a ¼ of the way up the pepper. Cover the entire dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 and half hours.
After an hour and a half, take the foil off and continue baking for another thirty minutes.
When they have baked for 2 hours they should be done. If the rice is still a little undercooked, continue baking.
When they are done, take the dish out of the oven and place the peppers on a plate to hold until ready to eat. Drain the chicken stock from the baking dish into a small sauce pot. Add the tablespoon of tomato paste as well as salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer on the stove, whisking and allow to simmer for about 10 mins while the peppers cool.
When the sauce is done, plate the pepper and then pour sauce over the top.
Here is my recipe for simple tomato sauce.
Tomato Sauce
1 large can of tomato puree
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion diced fine (or half of an onion)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4-5 leaves of basil julienned
Salt
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
¼ cup of dry white wine
Begin by dicing the onion into small cubes. Then smash the garlic cloves and set aside.
In a medium size pot, pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the pot and turn the heat to medium. Add the smashed garlic cloves as well as red pepper flakes to your taste (perhaps 1 teaspoon most? We are not trying to make it spicy, merely flavor it). Cook the garlic cloves till golden brown. Remove the garlic with tongs and throw away.
At this point add the onion and sauté over medium heat until translucent. Off the heat deglaze the onions / pot with white wine. Return to the stove and allow to reduce by half or until dry. At this point, add the tomato puree as well as the spices and salt (save basil for the end). Place the pot back on the stove and turn to low, stirring occasionally for 5-10 minutes. Add the basil and take off the heat. Sauce is done! Let cool and then place in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last about a week.
