The smell of grilled, cooked, fried or baked paprika or bell peppers is one of scents of childhood for most of Serbian people who grew up in Serbia. In Serbia there are many delicious dishes based on paprika and some of them are 100 percent Serbian. There are even few kinds of very tasty, creamy spreading made of paprika. The most popular among them is ajvar (ayvar).

Still, this time we wanted to share with you a recipe for dish that is part of few different cuisines and even in Serbia it’s cooked in different ways. We are sharing with you typical local version of STUFFED BELL PEPPERS, which are also a taste of childhood for many Serbs. In Serbian this dish’s name is PUNJENE PAPRIKE (read: poonyene paprike). Typically it is prepared during the summer when you can find seasonal fresh paprika and bell peppers in Serbia, but there are recipes with dried paprika for winter time too. During the Serbian Orthodox fasts it’s also prepared in vegan version with minced walnuts, mushrooms and other ingredients.  In Serbian cuisine many other stuffed vegetables are very common too. However, we’ll leave those recipes for some other occasion. Let’s see how the recipe for summer SERBIAN STUFFED BELL PEPPERS goes!

INGREDIENTS

400g pork minced meat

400g beef minced meat (you may find a prepared mixture of pork and beef in some stores)

small cup (120g) of white rice

12 medium or 6-7 big bell peppers (any colour is fine)

1 medium onion

1-2 fresh tomatoes (optional)

1 table spoon of flour (wheat, barley, rice or any other)

1 cup (250ml) of cooked tomato juice

2-3 table spoons of sunflower, olive or some other oil

finely chopped fresh or dried parsley leaves

salt

pepper

PREPARATION

Cut off tops of bell peppers (with peduncle) and clean it from seeds carefully, so that peppers stay whole without cracks. Put it in a big wide pot and put aside. If you bought pork and beef minced meat separately, mix them well and gently and make an even mixture. Put aside.Put 2-3 spoons of sunflower or some other oil in a big pan or medium pot. Finely chop onion, add it to a pan and fry shortly until it becomes a bit transparent, but not brown.  Then add mixed minced meat, a tea spoon of salt (or how much you like), a little bit of powder black pepper and chopped parsley leaves and fry it. Stir it all the time. If you notice lumps, just tap them and separate in smaller pieces with the coop or whichever spoon you use for stirring. When the meat is almost done add rice, stir with meat and fry all until the meat is completely done. Then put aside and start stuffing bell peppers. Peppers should be filled to the top. You may just leave 0.5cm from the top of peppers empty if you cut the tomato thicker. Cut tomato(s) horizontally in approximately 0.5cm thick rings and put them on tops of stuffed peppers. Push it a bit inside, so they cover it like little caps. Pour water in the pot between stuffed bell peppers carefully, so that water doesn’t cover them. Water should be around 1cm lower than peppers. Cover the pot with stuffed peppers and cook them on a medium heat around 40 minutes. Check with fork to see when peppers are soft. Add more water if it evaporates. When it’s done, mix tomato juice with flour and pour it between peppers. Cook it 3-4 minutes more and put away from the stove. You may put it in hot oven afterwards and bake on 200 Celsius degrees for 10 minutes if you wish (that’s optional, matter of taste). It’s ready for serving! If you don’t eat it all for lunch, you may put it to refrigerator for tomorrow or in a freezer for some other occasion. Just warm it the next time and enjoy! Bon appetite! Prijatno!

 

 

Australiana Serbahttps://www.australianaserba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/paprika-367687_1920-1024x576.jpghttps://www.australianaserba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/paprika-367687_1920-150x150.jpgAustraliana SerbaAS CookbookBalkan,Cookbook,Dishes,Food,Peppers,Punjene paprike,Recipe,Serbian,Serbian cuisine,Stuffed Bell PeppersThe smell of grilled, cooked, fried or baked paprika or bell peppers is one of scents of childhood for most of Serbian people who grew up in Serbia. In Serbia there are many delicious dishes based on paprika and some of them are 100 percent Serbian. There are even...Internet Magazine