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Meat-Stuffed Peppers
Samuel Stolper
I've read that cooked, stuffed, and baked vegetables are central to Mizrachi Jewish cuisine, and vegetables stuffed with meat are especially popular on holidays such as Rosh HaShanah. They also have a tradition of cooking with fresh ingredients, buying their produce in the local shuk (today's farmer's market), which is how I like to buy my fruits and vegetables when possible. This is a healthy, delicious, and beautiful dish to serve.
Food Editor's note: My son, the cook, is preparing our family's entire Rosh HaShanah dinner on day one this year, along with his two brothers. As always, he has added a new dish to the the traditional ones. The house smelled heavenly when he was cooking these, and the end result looked beautiful. And, for those of us who are on low-carb or gluten-free diets, this could be the perfect dish!
Ingredients
7-8 cubanelle or sweet Italian green peeppers - the long, thin ones, red or yellow are fine, too
1 poung ground beef (ground dark turkey is okay, too)
1 onion, grated
3 tablespoons uncooked rice
3 tablespoons water
1 extra large egg
1-2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons pepper
1 tablespoons oil
1 onion, chopped
20 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Preparation
1. Cook the rice, but not fully. It is will continue to cook in the peppers.
2. Cut a circle in the top of each pepper and remove the stem and seeds. Rinse and set aside. Save the tops.
3. In a bowl, mix together the meat, grated onion, rice, egg, salt, and black pepper. (You can taste the mixture for the amount of salt you prefer.)
4. Stuff the peppers with this mixture. Stuff lightly, so they won't be too heavy and dense. Place stuffed peppers in a roasting pan.
5. In a saucepan, the the oil and saute the chopped onion until golden. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, and sugar and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Pour the sauce over the peppers, making sure that some of the sauce stays on top of the peppers. Place pepper tops back on top of the peppers. (This keeps the filling in while cooking, and intensifies the flavor.)
7. Cover and bake 1 hour, basting at least twice.
8. Remove and serve immediately, or cool and refrigerate. Reheat gently before serving. They taste even better after the flavors have set for a day!
Yield: 7-8 large servings
Samuel Stolper is the middle son of the Food Editor's three sons, all of whom enjoy cooking and trying new dishes. She is indeed blessed!
Meat Stuffed Peppers
ShalomBoston.com
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