Balkan-Style Stuffed Peppers
These delicious roasted peppers packed with beautifully spiced rice and meat are a substantial yet light, full-of-flavour, gluten-free dish. They taste great straight out of the oven and even better if left in the fridge for a couple of days for the flavours to sink in. Stuffed peppers are suitable for freezing and make a fantastic quick meal when needed.
Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 large oven dish.
- 1 cooking wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 8 large bell peppers whole
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1-2 carrots diced into small cubes
- 500 g mincemeat beef only or beef and pork mix
- 1 cup white rice
- 500 ml tap water
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 /2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon savoury spice or mint
- salt to taste
For the sauce
- 3-4 tablespoon plain flour
- 3 medium eggs
- 400 ml natural yoghurt
- salt to taste
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 356 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the mincemeat and the egg out of the refrigerator one hour before cooking.Peel and dice (or grate) the onion and carrot. Dice or grate the tomato. Wash the peppers well, slice the top of each pepper to make improvised lids and remove the seeds from the inside. Bring water to the boil in a saucepan and blanch the de-seeded peppers for 2 minutes. You don't have to blanch the improvised lids. Dispose of the water and use the same saucepan to make the filling for the stuffed peppers.
- Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in the saucepan and saute the diced onion for 1-2 minutes to release flavour. Add the diced carrot and saute it until nearly cooked. Stir the mincemeat with the vegetables, break the lumps in the meat with a spoon and saute until the liquid is reduced. Add the rice and the dry spices, saute for 2 minutes, then pour 500ml of water. When most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice has doubled in size, add the diced tomato.
- Pack the filling tightly inside the peppers. If using bell peppers, arrange the stuffed peppers straight in the roasting dish. Ensure they are supporting each other. Cover with the improvised pepper lids. Long stuffed peppers must be laid down in the oven dish. Fill the oven dish with water up to the middle of the peppers, place it in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- To make the bechamel sauce: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan and saute the flour. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and yoghurt to combine. Add salt. Pour splashes of yoghurt mixture with the toasted flour and stir vigorously until you've used it all and have a thick and lump-free sauce.
- Serve these beautiful stuffed peppers garnished with bechamel sauce and parsley and a fresh salad on the side.
Notes
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 4 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 754 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 29.5g | 38% |
| Saturated Fat 8.2g | 41% |
| Cholesterol 248mg | 83% |
| Sodium 788mg | 34% |
| Total Carbohydrate 70.6g | 26% |
| Dietary Fiber 5.6g | 20% |
| Total Sugars 19.9g | |
| Protein 52.6g | |
| Vitamin D 12mcg | 58% |
| Calcium 197mg | 15% |
| Iron 28mg | 155% |
| Potassium 1369mg | 29% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet.2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |