We didn’t do much research into Budapest before arriving other than finding a place to stay. But once there we were schooled in its rich history, its amazing culture and its cuisine. Foods like goulash soup, the huge variety of cakes and pastries and the stuffed peppers are comforting and delicious. Peppers so flavourful they left us speechless. Like Italians, Hungarians all have their own version of dishes. Small variations from family to family. The recipe we’re sharing is our version, it’s toothsome and the ingredients can be sourced in most cities. The fact of the matter is that Hungarian Stuffed Peppers aren’t Hungarian at all. It’s a recipe with Turkish roots that was adopted by Hungarians in the 16th and 17th century during Turkish occupation. So feel free to use this recipe as a guideline, use it as is or add your own twist to it. If you can’t find Hungarian peppers in your supermarket, you can use other peppers or try and grow sweet Hungarian peppers
yourself.
yourself.
Fresh Peppers at the Great Market Hall
Stuffed peppers
STUFFED HUNGARIAN PEPPERS
2014-09-29 15:33:17
Ingredients
- 10 Hungarian Yellow Wax Peppers pr similar thin skinned pepper
- 1 kilo regular ground beef (not lean)
- 3/4 cup Arborio rice (any rice will work but Arborio is good!)
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 extra large egg, beaten
- 2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika (+ 1Tbsp to add to the sauce)
- 1 tsp hot Hungarian paprika
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 jars tomato passatta (strained tomatoes)
- 1/2 small can tomato paste
- 3 or 4 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp or branch of fresh thyme (optional)
- Couple squirts Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- If you are really lucky you will be able to get those beautiful Hungarian yellow wax peppers but any type of bell pepper can be substituted. Use a non reactive cooking vessel that has a lid or can be wrapped well with tinfoil.
- Cut the tops off all the peppers and carefully remove the seeds and veins. Pop the stems out of the top and then finely dice the remaining flesh.
- Cover the rice with water in a small pot and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for 2 minutes then drain it and rinse it under cold water.
- In a sauté pan, preferably with bacon fat (olive oil is fine) cook the diced onion and garlic until they are soft and then add the chopped pepper tops with the paprikas and cook for another few minutes until soft and fragrant. Remove all of it to a large bowl and let cool completely. When cool, mix the onion mixture with the ground beef, the beaten egg, salt and pepper.
- Fold in the cold blanched rice.
- Gently stuff the peppers with the filling and make meatballs with what remains. In a suitable sized covered pot or casserole loosely fit the peppers in a layer or two and then gently squeeze in the remaining meatballs on top. Whisk the tomato paste with some passatta and then pour over the peppers, continue with more passatta if needed until the meatballs are almost covered.
- Add the Bay leaves and the branch of thyme, the paprika and a couple of squirts of Worcestershire. A good pinch of salt and ten turns of fresh pepper and check for seasoning after cooking.
- Place the whole works in the oven on the lower middle rack at 350F for the first forty five minutes and then reduce it to 325F for the next hour.
- Remove from oven and check for salt. If the sauce is too thin you can remove the peppers and reduce the sauce until it is thicker
- Serve the peppers in warm pasta bowls with an accompanying meatball and lots of sauce. A good dollop of heavy sour cream takes it up one octave.
A Cook Not Mad - Food and Travel Blog https://www.acooknotmad.com/
You can also find a goulash soup in Poland- it’s one of my favourite. Looks like Hungary has so much to offer in terms of food. Good to know and by the way it’s a great recipe! Enjoy it!
Thank you, we have enjoyed it, many times. Will try growing the peppers here next summer.
Nat,
You’ll get a better flavor out of your sauce if you make a rántás. Its a roux made with paprika instead of flour. Just treat it the same way. Add some butter or oil to a pan, get it hot, add enough paprika to ‘dry up’ the oil and cook it until its fragrant, then add to your sauce. It flavors and thickens the sauce. This technique is used in a lot of Hungarian cooking.
Kristen, Thank you for this tip, will try it next time.
Wonderful recipe. Stuffed peppers were eaten quite often in my family as I was growing up. Never with those beautiful peppers though. I’ll be looking for them now and will be making this soon, thanks!
This was very good! But nothing like my mom’s! She made a roux, but cooked the peppers on the stovetop. She was a sou chef in Budapest, in her younger days. She was an amazing cook! Wish I would’ve realized I needed to pay attention. But I was very happy with this revision and will most likely use it again.
Nothing ever compares to mom’s 😉