Serbian stuffed peppers (Punjene paprike sa meson)

Eastern Europeans love sour cream. Particularly beloved by the Balkans is a “kajmak” (or kaymak), a thickened cream similar to clotted cream, however this is difficult to find in Australia, so sour cream makes for a fair substitute to eat with Serbian stuffed capsicums and crusty bread.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Stream free On Demand

Comfort Food

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

Ingredients

• 6-8 bullhorn peppers, yellow or red
• Crusty bread, sour cream, roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

For the stuffing

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• ½ cup white rice, parboiled (see Note)
• 500 g beef mince
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp each sweet paprika, salt and black pepper

For the sauce

• 3 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 700 g passata
• 2 bay leaves
• Vegeta stock powder, salt, black pepper and sugar, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan-forced). Cut off the tops of the peppers, scoop out the seeds, discard and set aside.
   
2. To make the filling, heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onions and fry for 3 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Transfer the onions to a large bowl with the remaining filling ingredients and mix well to combine. Gently stuff the peppers with the filling. Roll any leftover filling into meatballs. Transfer the stuffed peppers and meatballs to a deep baking tray.
   
3. To make the sauce, return the saucepan to medium-low heat with the oil for the sauce, then add the flour, stirring well, to make a roux and cook for 2 minutes. Stir through the tomato paste and cook for a further minute. While mixing continuously, gradually add the passata to the pan, then half-fill the passata jar with water and add that to the saucepan with the bay leaves and a generous sprinkle of stock powder, salt, pepper and sugar, to taste. Pour the sauce over the stuffed peppers and meatballs and cover with foil. Bake for 1-1 ½ hours.
   
4. Serve the Serbian stuffed peppers with crusty bread, sour cream and a sprinkle of parsley.

Note

• To parboil the rice, combine ½ cup rice with 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes, then drain with a fine mesh sieve and rinse with cold water.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Comfort Food

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G