My friend Nick, who lives in Los Angeles recently shared these beautiful stuffed peppers with me. The recipe was passed on to him by his Greek grandmother and after just one bite, you couldn’t help notice the distinct flavors of the Mediterranean. I loved the sweet and savory flavors and the delicate hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Although I never got a copy of the recipe from Nick, he did share the list of ingredients used. I was so inspired, I decided to try my own version. Although I didn’t deviate far from Nick’s version, with the exception of adding celery and fresh parsley, the results turned out great! I hope I did your yiayia proud.
Thank you Nick!
Ingredients
- 4 medium sized bell peppers (tops, seeds and membranes removed)
- 2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup brown onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 1 lb. of ground beef
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup pine nuts toasted
- 1 1/4 cups of pre-cooked white or brown rice
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 28 oz. can/jar tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup parsley chopped
- Salt/pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees with a wrack in the middle of the oven.
- Lightly brush an oven proof pyrex baking dish (13×9) with 1 tbs. olive oil.
- Prepare peppers by removing stems, half inch off the top and seeds and membranes removed.
- Small dice the half inch slices of peppers and prepare onion celery and minced onion and set aside.
- Heat the other 1 tbs of oil in a sauté pan or skillet until hot but not smoking.
- Add ground beef, stirring occasionally to break up the meat into small pieces as it browns.
- Add diced bell pepper, onion, celery, minced garlic and spices, stirring gently for about 2-3 minutes or when vegetables start to appear translucent.
- Stir in chicken broth, about 1 cup of tomato sauce, cooked rice raisins and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until mixture does not look too wet.
- Finish stuffing by stirring in pine nuts parsley and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Set stuffing aside until slightly cool about 15 minutes.
- Stuff peppers with a large spoon packing the stuffing tightly into each pepper.
- Cover bottom of baking dish with half of the prepared sauce and place peppers upside down onto the sauce, making sure you don’t lose stuffing. I use a flat spatula to maneuver peppers into baking dish.
- Pour the rest of the sauce over each pepper and bake for about an hour or until peppers are fork tender.
- Serve topped with more fresh parsley and your favorite vegetables.