Stuffed Peppers (Pork, Veal & Beef)
Three large peppers split and packed with a pork, veal, and beef filling bound with rice and egg, then baked under a tomato sauce seasoned the Eastern European way: paprika, bay leaf, dill, and a little sour cream at the table. Same idea as golubtsi, just in a pepper.
Ingredients
- 3 large bell peppers, halved lengthwise, seeds and membranes removed
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground veal
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 cup long-grain rice, rinsed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- ¼ cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
For the sauce
- 2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup beef or chicken stock
- 1 small onion, grated or very finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram or thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Sour cream, for serving
Instructions
Cook the rice in salted water until just shy of tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Cook the diced onion and grated carrot until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the 3 minced garlic cloves and the teaspoon of paprika for the last minute. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl combine the pork, veal, beef, cooled rice, eggs, cooked onion and carrot, dill, parsley, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Mix with your hands until just bound. Do not overwork.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lay the pepper halves cut-side up in a baking dish that holds them snugly.
Pack the filling firmly into each half, mounding it a little. Form any leftover filling into small patties and nestle them in the same dish.
For the sauce, stir together the crushed tomatoes, stock, grated onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, tomato paste, both paprikas, marjoram, allspice, bay leaves, sugar, salt, and pepper.
Pour the sauce over and around the peppers so the filling is glazed and the dish has sauce coming partway up the sides.
Cover tightly and bake 55 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the peppers are soft, the filling is cooked through, and the sauce has thickened.
Rest 10 minutes. Fish out the bay leaves. Spoon sauce over each pepper and serve with sour cream and more dill.
Notes
Three pounds of meat is generous for three peppers. The extra filling baked as patties in the same sauce is the point, not a mistake. For six whole peppers (tops cut, stood upright) use the same filling with no leftovers.
Rice stays slightly underdone before mixing so it finishes in the oven instead of turning to mush.
Sauce should taste seasoned before it goes on the peppers: paprika first, then bay, a pinch of allspice, and enough salt that the tomatoes are not flat. If the canned tomatoes are sharp, a pinch of sugar in the sauce is optional. A spoon of sour cream at the table is the Russian finish; stir a few tablespoons into the hot sauce after baking if you want it creamier.
Pairs with the Lenten stuffed peppers on fasting days and with golubtsi when you want the same filling in cabbage.