Stuffed peppers – the food of my childhood

I think that everyone has a food that reminds him of his childhood. There are several dishes that my parents used to do quite regularly, but just last week, both me and my wife we remembered of the same dish – the stuffed peppers. My mother in low gave us very tasty and home-grown peppers.

The recipe that I’m sharing with you is the one that we are doing at home. There are different versions and I’m sure that the ones that are familiar with this dish and are reading my post, they do have their own version.

Ingredients for the stuffed peppers:

• Fresh bell peppers (commonly used is the yellow one, but honestly can be done with all types)
• Minced mead (mixture of beef and pork meat)
• Salt
• Onions
• Rice
• Garlic
• (Olive) oil
• Flour

For the sauce:

• Tomato sauce
• Sugar
• Dry red paprika powder

The quantities depend on you (how many peppers you want to make). I had 10 small peppers and I’ve used 700 g of meat, 1 onion, 2 spoons of rice and 1 spoon of flour.

First of all, you have to select the pot 😊, where you will cook your paprikas. I always put empty peppers in one pot to see the quantities that I can squeeze into one pan). It is important that the peppers are tightly packed in the pot, so that they stand upright, as this way all the filling will remain in the peppers.

Then I start preparing the meat. I chop the opinions and roast them in olive oil. I've also chopped the garlic in advance.

Then I add the meat and slowly cook it till it is almost cooked. Season with salt and add some minced garlic.

While the meat is cooking, I start cleaning the peppers – just wash them and cut the top off. Clean out the seeds.

When the meat is done, turn off the heat and add the rice and a little bit of flour and mix all together.

Now start filling the meat mixture into the paprikas. Gently push it in the pepper and close it with the top part. Position all the paprikas in the pot. If there is some left over of the meat mixture, just sprinkle it all over the peppers.

In a separate pot prepare the sauce. Just simply add the tomato pulp, some water, a small spoon of brown sugar, salt and 2 small spoons of read paprika powder.

Blend all together into a smooth mixture.

Pour the sauce over the peppers. The best is, if the peppers are half way covered with the sauce.

Cook the paprika on a slow heat for 45 minutes at least. Cook slowly and let it boil very gently.

Some people love to eat this dish with smashed potatoes. I just prefer a piece of bread. My favorite bread is sourdough bread, the one I make from my recipe (click on the link)😊.

A great thing about this dish is that it is even better the next day, so while cooking you cook it for two meals at least …

Thanks for reading,
feel free to leave a comment, I will be glad to reply to.
Best regards, @miljo76