Croatian Stuffed Peppers
This Croatian Stuffed Peppers recipe is an authentic, family-style approach to bell peppers stuffed with ground meat, onion, garlic, and rice mix, topped with a light tomato sauce.
Stuffed Peppers & Kingdoms
I have been eating Stuffed Peppers, Croatian-American style, since childhood. My mother was not adventurous in her recipe making and meal preparation. She created it the same way every time, but she did it well–she used green bell peppers, and mainly used ground beef, but conceded to also using veal. The peppers were cooked in a mild tomato sauce but seasoned very simply.
As a child, I would cut out the shaped meat portion and leave the supple, flavorful pepper behind. I learned soon enough that the cooked pepper was not just the meat’s protective casing, but the force that harnessed the flavor vehicle itself.
The Stuffed Pepper came a long way from her 1980s kitchen table in Thornwood, NY to my recipe, handwritten by my mother in perfect penmanship. It came into the line of my Croatian family on the Dalmatian coast from the ever present Austro-Hungarian Empire, which oversaw Croatia after Napoleon peaked, when The Habsburg monarchy was reconstituted in 1867 as Austria-Hungary. Croatia was under Hungary’s rule, while Dalmatia (the main drag of coastal Croatia) remained under Vienna’s.
Austro-Hungarian
In this way, many of Dalmatian Croatia’s national dishes are Austrian and Hungarian in nature. The custards and tortes for dessert, the beloved Kielbasa (we call it Kabasi), and the Stuffed Peppers (Punjene Paprike…recognize the second word? “Paprike” is pepper, and “Paprika,” well you can guess where that comes from.) These days, all of the former Yugoslavs, as well as other Southeastern Europeans (Bulgarians, Czechs, and of course Hungarians) have been known to concoct a similar Stuffed Peppers recipe.
Here’s where I get a little defensive. I believe, within the adventure of food and the recipes we discover in that adventure–from our own family histories, experiences, travels, loved ones, and accidental finds–we transform them into what we wish them to become. However, I feel a certain…something when I see posts, blogs and food writing that purport Stuffed Peppers to be made up of mushrooms, kale, quinoa, cheeses, or are altogether vegetarian, or god forbid vegan. The Croatian-American, the former Austro-Hungarian, the Dalmatian girl in me who reads my mother’s recipe on stained note paper, pushes aside these possibilities.
Authenticity & Simplicity
I love the simplicity of the Croatian-cum-Hungarian Punjene Paprike/Stuffed Peppers. The beautiful sauce bubbles away and slowly softens the pepper skins, while simultaneously stewing the meat, allowing the finished Stuffed Pepper to be served any way you like (but usually with additional rice or mashed potatoes, though crusty bread works just fine).
On behalf of the sometimes jagged line of empires, broken shards of independence, and family history that stays together regardless of these, please enjoy this (relatively) traditional recipe for Stuffed Peppers.
Croatian Stuffed Peppers/Punjene Paprike
Ingredients
Stuffed Pepper Filling
- 1.0 lbs ground meat (2 parts beef to 1 part veal is the most popular mix)
- 6 bell peppers of any color (I left out green, because they tend to be more bitter and I've always enjoyed fall colors more)
- olive oil / butter for cooking
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 slices bread, no crusts
- whole milk
- ⅓ cup white rice
- ¼ cup tomato sauce from 28 oz can
- 1 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
- salt, pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes to taste
Tomato Sauce
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- olive oil / butter for cooking
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- remainder of the 28 ounce can of tomato sauce with water added to fill up
- ½ bunch Italian parsley, chopped
- salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, red pepper flakes, bay leaves
Instructions
For the Stuffing Mix
- Boil 2/3 cup of water and drop in 1/3 cup of white rice. Simmer for no more than five minutes. The rice will continue to cook inside the peppers. Drain and set aside.
- Cube two pieces of white bread with crusts cut off and pour in enough milk to cover. Let soak for 5-10 minutes and squeeze out as much excess milk as possible.
- Clean out the peppers (I recently started keeping the tops and popping them on during cooking and for presenting purposes.) Make sure to remove white parts of veins and the seeds. I like to shave off just a few centimeters from the bottom of the pepper if it has a natural slant, so they can sit up more easily in the pot.
- Salt and pepper the ground meat in a mixing bowl. Add the softened bread and the white rice.
- In a pot, add 1 chopped medium onion to some butter/olive oil. Brown until translucent (about 7-8 minutes). Add 3-4 cloves minced garlic and saute for additional minute or so.
- Add to meat mixture, along with additional salt,pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika (I prefer hot to smokey), about 1/4 cup from the 28 ounce can of tomato sauce, and the chopped parsley.
- Mix the ingredients with your hands (it's the only way!) until everything is evenly incorporated. Fill the peppers nearly to the top–remember the rice will still expand a bit when cooking, so don't over pack them. Set aside.
For the Tomato Sauce
- Add two chopped medium onions to some more butter/olive oil, and brown until translucent in the same way. Add the 3-4 cloves minced garlic for an additional minute.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add 1/2 cup of red wine and scrape any loose bits from the bottom of the pot, stirring until the alcohol burns off, about 5-7 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and combine.
- Pour water into the tomato sauce can until it comes back up to the top. Add the contents of the can into the sauce and keep on a higher flame. While it comes to the boil, add similar spice/seasoning (salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, paprika,along with some oregano and a couple of bay leaves.) Toss in the parsley and let boil. Mix and lower to a simmer.
- Add the stuffed peppers to the pot (I add on the tops for show…) and mix the sauce around the peppers,making sure the heat is on very low. Cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours, occasionally spooning the sauce over each pepper.
- Serve traditionally with mashed potatoes or more rice (the sauce makes a wonderful gravy), or dip some bread into it alongside the succulent peppers. My Turkish man used some Greek yoghurt for spooning onto the peppers. I was defiant, being the Croatian descendant conquered by his Ottoman ancestors, but, I'll admit, it cools things off nicely. Enjoy Turkish style, Croatian style, Austro-Hungarian style, any style. The sauce is what makes this very authentic recipe worth its weight. Let the peppers reign!
