Name: Stuffed pepper in tomato sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 70 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: For the stuffing:; 1 onion; 1 clove of garlic; 1 small carrot; ½ red bell pepper; 2 tsp sweet paprika; 1 tsp cumin powder; 1 tsp dried marjoram or oregano; 500g minced meat (pork or beef or their combo); 1 cup cooked rice; 1 egg; 1 handful parsley, chopped; For the tomato sauce:; 1 onion; 1 clove of garlic; 1 stick of celery; 1 carrot; ½ red pepper; 1 Tbsp tomato purée; 700 ml passata; 300 ml vegetable stock; 1 tsp cane sugar (optional); Salt &pepper; To stuff:; 4 red/orange red bell peppers

Stuffed pepper in tomato sauce

9 Dec 2016

by Emese

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

70 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 15 minutes

Background

Stuffed pepper in tomato sauce is classic Hungarian family favourite, called Töltött Paprika. We normally use long yellow Turkish-style peppers for the dish, but I find that red/orange bell pepper provides more texture and a sweeter taste. The dish is made in three stages - first you make the tomato sauce, then the stuffing, and finely you simmer the stuffed peppers in the tomato sauce. For this reason, I normally use leftover bolognese sauce or make enough stuffing for other dishes. This is not the classic recipe, as I’ve adapted it to my family’s liking. Nevertheless, it’s still very delicious.

Ingredients

For the stuffing:
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 small carrot
½ red bell pepper
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp dried marjoram or oregano
500g minced meat (pork or beef or their combo)
1 cup cooked rice
1 egg
1 handful parsley, chopped
For the tomato sauce:
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 stick of celery
1 carrot
½ red pepper
1 Tbsp tomato purée
700 ml passata
300 ml vegetable stock
1 tsp cane sugar (optional)
Salt &pepper
To stuff:
4 red/orange red bell peppers

Instructions

First make the tomato sauce. Finely chop the garlic, onion, carrots, red pepper and celery. Heat a spoonful of oil in a casserole dish, sauté the chopped vegetables until soft. Add the tomato purée , stir for a few second, then add the stock and passata. Cook for ten minutes, add most the parsley, then using a hand-held blender whiz until you get a thick soup. Taste it. Season to your liking and if needed, add some sugar.
Make the filling. Finely chop the onion, garlic, carrot and red pepper. Heat some oil in a frying pan and sauté the chopped vegetable until soft. Stir in the paprika, majoram and cumin.
Now you can continue in two different ways:
Either A: mix the vegetables with the minced meat, rice, egg and remaining parsley.
Or B: add the minced meat to the pan and cook until it changes colour and liquid evaporates . Add a spoonful of the tomato sauce, the egg, rice, and parsley – then mix. The stuffing should be tense.
Cut off the tops of the bell peppers and remove the stem and the seeds. Stuff the peppers with the stuffing. Put them into the tomato sauce, bring to the boil and simmer under cover for 45-50 minutes if you used uncooked mince or 20-25 minutes if you precooked the meat.
If you have any leftover mince mixture, make meatballs of it, and add to the sauce 25 minutes before the end of cooking time (or use it for other recipes).
Serve with rice or crusty bread.

Tips

I like using rice for the stuffing because it’s gluten-free, but breadcrumbs can be used too!
I prefer stuffing the peppers with pre-cooked mince because it reduces cooking time, so the peppers don't become too soft!