Stuffed Peppers European Style Food

HUNGARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS (TöLTöTT PAPRIKA)

Steps:

• Wash the peppers, cut the top off, and remove the middle section including seeds. Give the peppers a second rinse to remove the rest of the seeds.
• Wash the rice and add it to a small pot. Add water according to package directions and cook the rice until it is half cooked. Let it cool.
• In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ground meat, rice, egg, salt to taste, and black pepper to taste. Mix well.
• Stuff the green peppers with the meat-rice-mixture. If there is any left, you can form meatballs.
• Wash the celery stick and the banana peppers (optional). Also, peel the onion.
• Place the celery stick (you can cut it in half or thirds if it is too big), whole onion, and banana peppers (optional) into a large pot. Add the crushed tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• Add the stuffed peppers - and meatballs if any - into the pot. Add sufficient water to almost fully cover the contents. In our case, that's approx. 4 cups of water. Depending on the size of your pot and the size of the peppers, it might be more or less for you.
• Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Place a lid on the pot and let it simmer for around 1.5 hours. You can turn the peppers a couple of times during this time.
• Once the stuffed peppers are soft, remove them from the pot. Also remove the celery stick, onion, and hot peppers and squeeze out the juice. If it's too hot to touch them with your hands, you can place the vegetables in a strainer and then press down with a fork or spoon to squeeze the juice out. Discard the squeezed celery, onion, and banana peppers.
• In a small pot, make a light roux by melting one tablespoon of butter and adding the flour to it. Mix well with a wooden spoon until there are no flour lumps left and sauté the mixture until lightly brown. Add approx. two tablespoons of water to the roux and mix thoroughly.
• Add the roux to the pot of tomato sauce and whisk well. Bring the tomato sauce to a low boil and whisk regularly until there are no lumps left. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until it has thickened. Add a pinch of sugar and salt to taste.
• Placed the stuffed peppers (and meatballs) back in the pot of tomato sauce. Let them simmer for 2-3 minutes. You can serve the stuffed peppers with potatoes and/or bread.

STUFFED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly browned.
• Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
• In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

THE BEST STUFFED PEPPERS

Steps:

• If your peppers don't sit upright on your cutting board, trim about 1/8-inch off the bottoms to even them out so they can stand without falling over. Cut the top off each pepper about 1/2-inch down. Remove and discard the stems, then finely chop the remaining flesh from the tops. Scoop out the seeds and as much of the membranes as you can. Place the peppers in a large microwave-safe bowl with 1/2 cup water. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high power for 12 minutes. Carefully uncover and let them sit until ready to assemble.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Spread the beef in an even layer and cook undisturbed until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, breaking up any clumps with the back of a spoon and scraping up any browned bits from the pan until the meat is lightly browned all over, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the browned meat to a large bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and add the reserved chopped peppers, onions, garlic, thyme, 4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until falling apart and much of the liquid has evaporated, about 7 minutes.
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly until brick red colored, about 1 minute. Stir in the wine and cook until the mixture is reduced, very thick and no smell of alcohol remains, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Transfer to the bowl with the beef. Stir in the rice until completely combined. (The mixture will be wet.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.
• Place the peppers cut-side up in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Spoon the filling into the peppers, gently pressing it in with the back of a spoon. Be careful not to overstuff and split the sides of the peppers. Bake for 15 minutes. Then top with the cheese and continue baking until the filling is heated through and the cheese is browned in spots, 10 to 12 minutes.

STUFFED PEPPERS - EUROPEAN STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat over to 375 degrees F.
• Combine finely chopped vegetables, oil, and seasonings in a pot or wok.
• Saute them for about 10-15 minutes.
• Add ground meat. (beef, pork, turkey, veal) your choice. Cook until brown and ready.
• Add rice to mixture and saute/cook through another 5 minutes, add sauce.
• Wash the peppers and take out the insides.
• Spoon the cooked mixture into the peppers.
• On bottom of pan lightly coat with sauce, place the peppers in the pan - do not layer one on top of the other.
• Sprinkle some paprika, olive oil, and if any remaining mixture on top of the peppers.
• Bake covered with foil at 375 for 50 minutes.
• Bake another 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees uncovered.
• ENJOY!

STUFFED PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven 350 degrees.
• Lightly spray baking pan with cooking spray.
• Blanch peppers in boiling, salted, water 5 minutes.
• Briefly, and lightly, hand mix ground beef mixture, adding all ingredients from ground beef to parsley, except tomato sauce topping.
• With a tablespoon, stuff each pepper with meat mixture.
• Mix ingredients of tomato sauce and spices, or use any tomato sauce of your choice.
• Place 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce in baking pan covering bottom. (This will be a small amount of covering).
• Add meat stuffed peppers to dish.
• Drizzle tomato sauce over top of stuffed peppers.
• Add optional 1 piece of bacon to top of each pepper.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
• When serving, dish out tomato "gravy" to top of each pepper.