Turkish Herbed Beef And Rice Stuffed Zucchini Tomatoes Peppers Food

PEPPERS STUFFED WITH RICE, ZUCCHINI AND HERBS

Steps:

• Prepare the peppers. With a sharp paring knife, cut away the tops, then reach in and pull out the membranes and seeds.
• Toss the shredded zucchini with salt and let drain in a colander for 20 minutes. Take up handfuls of zucchini and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the garlic, mint, parsley or dill, and rice. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup of the olive oil and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a baking dish large enough to accommodate all of the peppers. Fill the peppers about 3/4 of the way full with the stuffing, and replace the caps. Place in the oiled baking dish. Mix together the tomato paste and water with the remaining olive oil and the lemon juice. Season to taste. Add to the baking dish. Cover the dish with foil. Place in the oven and bake 45 minutes to an hour, until the peppers are soft. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, or serve hot. Remove the tops of the peppers and spoon the sauce in the baking dish over the rice before serving.

BEEF AND RICE STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Slice the top 1/2 inch from the tops of peppers and cut out the stems from the tops. Cut the core from the inside of the peppers and strip away any seeds. Cut away a very thin slice of pepper from the bottoms so the peppers can stand upright. Poke about 4 tiny holes in the bottoms to let juices drain out.
• Pour 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Add onion, beef broth, and red pepper flakes; spread out mixture evenly over the bottom. Set prepared bell peppers upright in the dish.
• Combine ground beef, cooked rice, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1/4 cup parsley, 2 tablespoons tomato sauce, garlic, salt, and black pepper in a large mixing bowl.
• Lightly stuff peppers with meat mixture. Spread 1 tablespoon remaining tomato sauce on top of each portion of stuffing; place reserved tops onto peppers. Lay a piece of parchment paper loosely on top of peppers and cover dish tightly with foil. Lay dish on a baking sheet.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Peppers should be starting to soften. Remove foil and parchment paper. Continue to bake until meat filling is cooked through and the peppers are tender, 20 to 30 more minutes. Sprinkle each pepper with 1/2 teaspoon parsley and drizzle with a spoonful of pan juices.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI & PEPPERS (TURKISH STYLE)

Steps:

• For the filling; Mix diced onions, rice, ground meat, 1 tbsp tomato paste, lemon juice, chopped dill, mint, and half of the chopped parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl.
• Wash the zucchinis and cut them into two, then scoop out their pulp with a small spoon and set aside. The walls of zucchinis shouldn't be too thick or too thin (about 1/4 inch). Wash the peppers, cut out the stems, and remove seeds. Sprinkle a pinch of salt inside all of the veggies.
• Stuff the vegetables with the meat mixture, being careful not to overfill since the rice and ground meat will expand as they cook. Place each stuffed vegetable upright in a large pot. Sprinkle the reserved zucchini pulp around pot. Add can of tomatoes.
• Pour broth or water into pot until the vegetables are 50%-75% submerged. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 40 minutes.
• Garnish with remaining chopped parsley and serve with yogurt.

TURKISH HERBED BEEF AND RICE STUFFED ZUCCHINI, TOMATOES, PEPPERS

Steps:

• Slice tops of 6 tomatoes, reserve. Scoop out pulp, drain in sieve, chop. (Save 2 tomatoes.) Cook onions in oil, stirring occasionally, 8-10 mins. until soft, not brown. Add chopped tomato, 3/4 C chopped tomato pulp and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid evaporates and tomato begins to break down, 5 min. Add rice and cook, stirring, 2 min. Add water, boil, then simmer, covered, over low heat until rice tender and water absorbed, 20 min. Transfer rice mixture to bowl, chill until cool, about 20 min. Add beef, herbs, 1 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper to cooled rice, kneading until smooth. Trim and cut zucchini crosswise in half to fit upright in a deep 7-qt heavy pot with lid. Hollow out each zucchini halfl leave 1/2 inch at bottom. Cut tops off peppers, reserve and hollow. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Fill veggies. Arrange tomatoes in cake pan lined with foil. Stir tomato paste into water; add 1/2 cup to pan, reserve rest. Put tops on tomatoes and cover tightly with foil. Bake 45 min. Cut 2 tomatoes into thin slices and layer in 7-qt pot; drizzle with oil. Stand zucchini and peppers in pot, leaning against each another and wedge pepper lids to keep them upright. Sprinkle chopped tomato pulp over and pour tomato water around veggies. Bring to boil then simmer, covered, 20-25 min./140°F. Transfer stuffed vegetables to a serving dish and add sugar and lemon juice to cooking liquid in pot. Boil until reduced to about 1 cup, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Spoon a little cooking liquid over each stuffed vegetable.