Persian Stuffed Peppers

This is another one of those great recipes that you want to have ready in your freezer for when your husband says… ”We got company”! Why.. Well for starters it looks so much more complicated than it really is, so you will wow them and second its just simple and delicous and if you mess up and it turns out mushy.. No one will even know! This is one of the first dishes my grandmother, Sally, taught me how to make. I was complaining to her on one Tuesday lunch at her house, where all the cousins from my fathers side would meet. “Why do you make so much rice, there’s always so much left over?“ Her response was funny and honest…

She said, ”what do you see every Friday night at my dinner table?” I said, “Dolmah” stuffed vegetables… And that was the answer, she made the extra rice on Tuesday and convert it into stuffing for any veggies she had in the fridge come Friday! A genius and so loving she was…She is watching over me from heaven, and smiling because I shared her story… Love you maman Sally!

INGREDIENTS

Makes Four (4) Servings

6 Bell Peppers with Tops cut off but keep
1 Large onion finely chopped
3 Cloves of garlic finely chopped
1Lb. Ground beef or Turkey
1 Cup Uncooked Basmati Rice
1 Cup Water
½ Cup Currants or black raisins
2 Tbsp. Slivered toasted almonds
¼ Tsp. ground Saffron steeped in ¼ C. hot water
2 Tbsp. Tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 Tbsp. Grapeseed oil

ASSEMBY

Pre heat Oven at 375
In a medium size sauce pan over medium heat, sauté onions in oil until golden add garlic to soften for another minute or two, then add meat. Cook until browned
Add currants to sauté
Add tomato paste and cook the paste for another 2 minutes .
Add uncooked rice, almonds, Saffron, salt, pepper and water
Stir for a minute and make sure all ingredients are mixed, cover and cook for about 7 minutes until rice is par cooked
After you have let the mixture cool down for a bit, start stuffing your peppers and placing them in a baking dish. Cover the peppers with the pepper caps you cut earlier. Cover with aluminum foil and in the oven for 45 min to an hour. Pull and serve.

PRO TIPS

This stuffing can be using to stuff any vegetable, chicken or turkey. You can go vegan too and cut out the meat.
Stuffing can be used as a side no need to stuff it!