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sour cream being dolloped on top of stuffed peppers
Gracious Cooking

Eva's Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers are inspired by a meal that was given to me by Eva, a lovely Hungarian cook. My peppers aren't perfectly authentic, but rather are adapted to ingredients readily available in the United States.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Hungarian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Peppers
  • 6 Anaheim peppers you can also use bell peppers
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • ¾ cup white rice cooked
  • ¾ cup corn kernels optional. Frozen is fine.
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning or spicy seasoning blend of your choice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
For the Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 and ¼ teaspoon salt divided
  • ¼ teaspoon Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning or spicy seasoning blend of your choice
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
  • 1 28 oz can tomato puree
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1-2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar for adding at the end of cooking
  • 1 quart chicken stock the amount of liquid needed will vary
Garnish
  • sour cream

Equipment

  • Large (at least 6 quart) Dutch oven

Method
 

To Stuff the Peppers
  1. Cut the tops off of the peppers. Using a long, thin knife remove the core and as much of the ribs of the peppers as you can. Don't be too worried about perfection here. Set hollowed out peppers aside.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, cooked rice, corn, egg, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Creole seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce and mix until fully combined. Your hands are the best tool for this. Get in there.
  3. With your fingers, stuff the filling mixture into the peppers. You'll want to over-stuff them, but resist. There's no need to over-stuff.
  4. There will be quite a bit of filling left over. With this filling, form little meatballs with your hands. Set aside, and prepare the sauce.
For the Sauce
  1. In a large Dutch oven set over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
  2. Sauté the diced onions until translucent, about 10 minutes. You may need to decrease the heat after a few minutes. Add ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼ of Tony Chachere's seasoning (or another spicy seasoning blend) to the onions about halfway through cooking.
  3. Add the 4 cloves of minced or grated garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  4. Add tomato puree, sugar, black pepper, and bay leaf to the pot.
  5. Add the stuffed peppers and the extra filling meatballs to the sauce.
  6. Add enough chicken stock to cover the peppers and meatballs.
  7. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer with the lid on, but slid slightly to one side for between 1 and ½ to 2 hours. Check at 1 and ½ hours and see if you like the doneness. The peppers should be able to easily be pierced through with a fork.
  8. Serve peppers with sour cream and extra meatballs from the sauce.

Notes

I prefer Anaheim peppers for this recipe, but you can substitute bell peppers if you wish. Anaheim peppers can be a little bit spicy, but most of them are mild.