Ukrainian Kitchen: Staffed peppers with sour cream-tomato sauce
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 lb. minced pork. Veal, beef or a mix of any of these two or three meats would work too.
- 4 lb. sweet white Hungarian peppers cleaned, core removed
- 4 large onions chopped
- 1 cup sunflower oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ cup Basmati rice
- 1 tbsp salt or to taste
- 1 tsp black pepper or to taste, crushed
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup ketchup
- ½ cup tomato paste
Instructions
- Start by chopping the onions. Heat a suitable size pan over medium heat and add the oil. Then, toss in half of the chopped onion and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the onion to cook until it turns golden.
- While the onions cook, prepare the rice to al dente stage.
- Mix the cooked onions, rice, minced meat, salt, and black pepper to create a homogenous filling. Set it aside.
- For the sauce, heat another pan over medium heat, add oil, and cook the remaining half of the chopped onions until they become translucent. Add tomato paste and ketchup, letting it caramelize briefly for about 5 minutes. Then, add sour cream and ½ cup of chicken broth. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from heat, and set aside.
- Wash and clean the peppers, cutting off the tops and removing the seeds and membranes.
- Stuff the peppers with the prepared filling of chopped onions, rice, and raw minced meat.
- In a large pot, arrange the peppers so that they stand upright. If needed, place a second layer of peppers on their sides.
- Pour the tomato sour cream sauce over the peppers and top up with the remaining chicken broth, ensuring the peppers are halfway submerged in the cooking liquid. Add more chicken broth or water if necessary.
- Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover with a lid and let the peppers simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Serve with a generous ladle of sour cream-tomato cooking sauce, a dollop of sour cream and optionally garnish with dill. As with many stewed dishes, this dish tastes even better the next day, as the flavors meld together.
- To reheat the dish, carefully arrange the desired number of stuffed peppers in a pot with a lid. Add the sour cream-tomato cooking sauce to the peppers. Gently warm the dish over low heat, allowing it to simmer for approximately 15 minutes to ensure thorough heating.
Notes
- While you can make this dish with Bell peppers, the taste is not going to be the same.
- Adjust the meat and rice proportions in the stuffing to suit your preference. Increase rice for a lighter meal or add more meat for a heartier one.
- You can substitute chicken broth with water if you want a lighter version of this dish.
- Keep cooked peppers in the fridge for up to 6 days. Make sure to store them in a container with a tight fitting lid.
- For longer storage, freeze them in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
- The dish can be easily reheated in the microwave