Summer and Stuffed Peppers

Here summer can not pass without stuffed peppers. And without purslane. 

Purslane is a flower that has always grown spontaneously between the brick of the courtyard, both in my grandmother’s home and in my own. And it is summer only when the bricks are filled with flowers, and bees.

The recipe of the stuffed peppers is very simple. The peculariarity is in the way peppers are cooked: leterally drowned in tomato sauce. 

The other peculiarity is the kind of peppers that are grown here: small round peppers that are still picked yellow; although they become orange in full maturation, almost red. 

When kids, we always said that it seemed to eat cardboard, and this because they are not very fleshy or watery. But now I like a lot, even in salad.

But you can use other varieties of peppers, just enough to be small.

This is a very popular dish in Croatia. There are also races about this recipe.

I usually use a tomato sauce made by me with the tomatoes of my garden, carrots, white roots, onion and basil. But you can use a simple tomato sauce, and it can be enriched with some carrots and basil leaves.

You can also replace meat with mushrooms. One day I will test this and I’ll let you know.

5 or 6 small peppers

for stuffing

300 g mixed minced meat (pork and beef)

60 g rice

1 egg

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

parsley and basil

salt and pepper

for tomato sauce

500 ml tomato sauce

250 ml water

2 small carrots (optional)

Some basil leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt

1 pinch of sugar

Wash the peppers and empty them. 

Prepare the filling by mixing the minced meat with rice, onion and garlic chopped, the egg and minced basil and parsley. Salt and pepper.

Fill the peppers.

Put the tomato sauce, water, oil, salt and sugar in a pot. You can also add carrots and basil leaves. Dip the peppers and reach the boil. 

Cook on slow fire with the lid for an hour and a quarter. If the sauce narrows too much add a little water.

Serve with patatoes or mashed potatoes.

« Older