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Montenegrin recipe

How to make Stuffed peppers

punjene paprike

All of Montenegro

Commons: Punjene Paprike
Photo: Tradition on a Plate, CC BY-SA 4.0

Bell peppers filled with minced meat and rice, then baked or simmered in a tomato sauce. A common home-cooked main course all over the country.

Serves 4 1 h 30 min

Ingredients

  • 8 medium bell peppers, tops cut off and seeds removed
  • 500 g minced beef, or half beef and half pork
  • 100 g long-grain rice, rinsed
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, salt and black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • 700 ml tomato passata mixed with 300 ml water

Method

  1. Fry the onion in the oil until soft. Let it cool a little, then mix it with the meat, rice, paprika, salt and pepper.
  2. Fill the peppers loosely with the mixture, leaving a little space at the top because the rice swells.
  3. Stand the peppers upright in a deep pot or baking dish and pour the tomato mixture around them.
  4. Cover and simmer gently, or bake at 180°C, for about 1 hour, until the peppers are soft and the rice and meat are fully cooked.
  5. Serve hot with bread and a spoonful of sour cream or yoghurt.
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