When I was growing up one of my mom's regular dishes was stuffed peppers. Usually green bell peppers since in the 70's in central Maine you didn't see red, orange or yellow bell peppers in the grocery very often and when you did they were twice the price. But being a frugal working mom this was a good cheap dish to make and easily done for 2 people. Ground beef, rice, tomato sauce and the peppers. Now, as a kid I didn't care too much for the bitter green bell peppers so I would eat all of the filling and leave the pepper untouched. Now, as an adult I do enjoy green peppers but I prefer the sweetness of red, orange or yellow peppers.
The idea of stuffing vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and so many others is certainly not new or unique. You can find examples in lots of different cuisines with their own spin on the filling and flavors. Growing up I always thought of the stuffed peppers and cabbage as a Hungarian thing. Stuffed tomatoes would be more Italian and then there are the oh so delicious stuffed grape leaves, dolmas, which make me long to visit Greece! Well, tonight I will share with you my recipe for a filling that works well for variety of veggies along with a recipe I recently tried for a vegetarian spin on the theme using acorn squash. Please join me over the "orange squiggle" (sorry, I couldn't resist!) for recipes and pics! Be sure to bring your appetite!
Let's start off with the stuffed peppers.
You want to look for nice firm rounded bell peppers of the color of your choice. Now, you may blanch them before stuffing if you choose, but I haven't really noticed much of a difference when doing this. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I like the peppers to still have a bit of firmness in the final dish and it's one less step! I tend to allow one pepper per diner, or half for kids. Rinse the peppers and then using a sharp paring knife run the knife around the stem at the top to core it and pull out the stem and core. If you want to make this really fancy for presenting cut off the core and seeds and discard while keeping the stem top to place back onto the pepper when the dish is done. Rinse the inside of the pepper and scrape out any remaining seeds and large ribs if there are any. If you choose to blanch, drop the peppers carefully into boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and let drain and cool.
Now the filling. As I mentioned in the intro a simple and inexpensive filling is to mix ground beef or turkey with cooked rice and tomatoes. The seasoning can be varied to your taste depending on whether you're going for the traditional Eastern European or the Italian etc. Cheese is also an addition that will vary according to culture and personal taste. Here is my standard recipe seasoned for the traditional "Hungarian" stuffed pepper:
Beef & Rice Filling
1 cup of uncooked rice
2 cups of water
Cook rice as you normally would.
1 lb of ground beef
1 small onion chopped
10-12 small white button mushrooms chopped
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes w/liquid
1 tblsp of smoked paprika (regular is fine too, use what you have)
1 tblsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 cups (16oz) tomato sauce
About 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Brown ground beef with a bit of salt & pepper, when beef is almost done add onions & mushrooms. When beef is done and onions & mushrooms are softened drain off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat (if necessary) and add seasonings to taste:
approximately 1 tblsp of smoked paprika, 1 tblsp of cumin and 1/2 tsp of ground coriander. Stir to incorporate spices evenly then add one 14 oz can of diced tomatoes. Simmer until heated through and adjust seasonings to taste. Turn off the heat and dump in the rice. Fold the rice into the meat mixture.
Now take 5-6 bell peppers and stand in 9x13 baking dish (cut bottoms slightly if necessary to stabilize being careful not to cut through all the way, if this won't work go ahead and halve the peppers and lay them in the dish skin side down) and using a big spoon stuff filling into peppers. Pack the filling down with the back of the spoon to fit as much in as possible. Then pour about 2 cups of tomato sauce over and around the peppers. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and loosely cover with tin foil.
Bake for about 45 minutes in a 350° oven or until peppers are tender. Cut in half to serve or if you're feeling fancy put the tops onto the whole peppers and serve on a platter.
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The filling recipe works well in zucchini; just halve lengthwise and scoop out the seeds along the center making a "boat". Brush with some olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt then fill and top with some shredded mozzarella. Bake at 350° until the zuke is easily pierced with a fork and the cheese is melted and the filling is thoroughly heated through.
Since the recipe for the filling makes so much and often I am only making 2-3 stuffed peppers I usually have lots leftover. So I bought 3 nice round beefsteak tomatoes and cored/seeded them and then I scraped out the flesh (a spoon works best for this) leaving a 1/2" thick shell. I dumped the flesh I'd scraped out into a bowl and added the leftover filling. Then I added a good handful of breadcrumbs (to soak up all the moisture from the tomato flesh), about a cup of shredded mozzarella and a handful of grated parmesan and folded it all together. Stuff this into the tomatoes then top with a nice chunk of fresh mozzarella and bake at 350° for about 20 minutes.
Stuffed tomatoes ready to go in the oven:
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You could also use the filling to make stuffed cabbage rolls or for dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) use ground lamb instead of beef and change up the seasoning a bit. I have not tackled either of these but there are lots of good websites out there that will guide you through the necessary steps to prepare the cabbage or grape leaves for the stuffing and the subsequent cooking instructions. Y'all know how to use "teh google", right?
And now, my final offering is a tasty recipe I adapted from AllRecipes.com. This is a meatless dish although it does call for chicken broth. You can easily use veggie broth in its place to make this vegetarian.
Moroccan Stuffed Acorn Squash
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 large acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup garbanzo beans, drained
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked couscous
Preheat oven to 350°.
Arrange squash halves cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, or until tender. Dissolve the sugar in the melted butter. Brush squash with the butter mixture, and keep squash warm while preparing the stuffing.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute the carrot until tender. Mix in the garbanzo beans and raisins. Season with cumin, paprika, curry, salt and pepper, and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.
Pour the chicken broth into the skillet and bring to a boil. Mix in the couscous. Cover skillet and turn off heat. Allow couscous to absorb liquid for 5 minutes. Stuff squash halves with mixture.
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