Turkish-style stuffed peppers

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 8 bell peppers, green
• 300 g minced beef
• 2 tomatoes
• 100 g rice
• 3 tbsp tomato paste or salça
• 1 pack of tomatoes, pureed
• 1 tbsp chili paste or chili powder
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 handful of parsley, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp mixed herbs (kekik), alternatively thyme, oregano and savory
• 1 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper
• e.g. yogurt, Turkish

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 5 minutes

Etli Biber Dolmasi, peppers with typical Turkish minced meat and tomato filling

It’s best to buy salça and kekik beforehand from a Turkish greengrocer. Alternatively, you can also use regular tomato paste and, for kekik, equal parts of each of the herbs mentioned above. Open the top of the peppers and remove the stems and seeds. Be careful! There must be no holes in the peppers! For the filling, dice the onions and finely chop the garlic. Mix half of the passata with the minced meat and the remaining ingredients, except for the whole tomatoes, in a large bowl until evenly mixed. Cut thick pieces of skin off the whole tomatoes and use them to seal the peppers. Simply mash any remaining tomatoes into the filling. Now fill the peppers up to a finger’s width below the rim with a spoon, press in gently and seal tightly with the tomato skins. Then place the peppers in a pot with the open side facing up and layer as firmly as possible, add the remaining passata and cover with an upturned plate to prevent the peppers from falling over and spilling. Now cover and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes, until the peppers’ skins turn a yellowish hue. This indicates they’re done. Serve with yogurt, if desired.