Stuffed Peppers / Punjene paprike

INGREDIENTS

14 large peppers*

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STUFFING

1 kg beef mince

0.5 kg pork mince

1 small bulb of garlic, finely chopped or crushed

2 eggs

1 mug of rice (uncooked)

a small bunch of fresh parsley

some bread crumbs

a little oil

salt, pepper,

vegeta (optional)

For Tomato sauce

• 500 g tomato juice (strained tomato juice)
• 40 g lard
• 40 g flour (all purpose)
• 20 g sugar
• 100 g sour cream (optional)

 1. In a pot melt lard and sauté flour until brownish. Add tomato strained juice, salt and sugar. Add water if needed.

II. Prepare the peppers

• Now prepare the peppers. Wash them, and remove the core and the seeds. See photo below.

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III. Stuffing

•  Mix the ingredients for the stuffing together in a bowl. Adjust the seasoning.

 

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IV. Stuff the peppers

• Stuff the peppers with the mixture, but do not overfill.

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V. Assembling and cooking

• Place the peppers in a pan, with the opening pointing upwards (see photo below).

• Pour the tomato sauce over the peppers. Simmer for 2 – 2.5 hours. Add some flour mixed with water to thicken the sauce to the desired consistency.

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• Serve with boiled potatoes, or mashed potato.

NOTES

* If you are using large peppers, allow one per person per serving. If you’re using small peppers, allow 2 per person per serving. We got 14 servings out of these peppers.

** We normally make it in advance.

Suggestions

You can use beef mince only. Can add cubes of pancetta to the sauce.

Why not use a mixture of your favourite spices to spice up the mince? I might do that myself, although there is nothing wrong with going simple, and enjoying the tastes of the meat, and the vegetables just the way they are!

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Cabbage Rolls

500 g pork, 250 g beef, 200 g of dry pork ribs, 100 g dry bacon, 100 g fat, 50 g rice, 2 kg sauerkraut, bay leaf, egg, spoon flour, onion, teaspoon cayenne pepper, salt, pepper

We take a head sauerkraut and separate sheets. Whit knife cut thicker ribs and wash them well in the cold water. In a saucepan put fat, minced meat and chopped onions and a little fry. Add rice, pepper, egg and salt to taste and mix everything well.

In the larger saucepan sort to the bottom few leaves of cabbage. Take one by one cabbage leaf and on each put the filling spoon and wrap sheets into small rollers. Cabbage rolls sort in pot next to each other in several rows.

Dried meat and bacon washed in hot water cut into pieces and put between lines. Add bay leaf.

Cabbage rolls flood whit cold water and cook for about 4 hours on the quiet fire.

In the pan we make browned flour of a fat , flour and teaspoon cayenne pepper, pour cabbage rolls, cover and leave it boiling for half an hour more.

Burek

Serves 6 for lunch or 4 for supper
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 30 minutes
Preheat your oven to 180C/ 350F/ Gas Mark 4


1 pack of filo pastry (available in all supermarkets)
400g feta cheese. It’s worth getting the barrel aged Feta if you can find it.
200g soft cream cheese
2 eggs
A big handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
A small handful of dill, chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
125ml olive oil
125g butter

1. Mix together the two cheeses in a bowl until relatively smooth. Mix in the two eggs, then the parsley and dill and then season well with salt and pepper.
2. Melt the butter in the microwave for 40 seconds until liquid. Mix in the olive oil.
3. Generously brush an 30cm x 20cm baking tin with the butter/oil mixture.
4. Take 1 sheet of filo pastry. Cover up the remaining sheets with a moist cloth so they do not dry up. Cut the sheet in half, widthways. Put one half of the sheet into the tin, scrunching down the edges if it is too big. Generously brush with the butter mixture, then place the next half sheet on top and, again, brush generously with the butter mixture.
5. Spread a thin layer of the cheese mixture all over the filo sheet.
6. Take another sheet of pastry, cut it in half again and layer it on top of the cheese mixture, brushing each layer generously with the butter mixture.
7. Continue to alternate 2 generously buttered halves of a filo pastry sheet with a layer of the cheese mixture until the cheese mixture runs out. You will probably get three layers of cheese.
8. Put two final layers of filo pastry on top of the last layer of cheese, brushing both generously with the butter and prick the surface a little with a fork.
9. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Best served warm out of the oven or at least at room temperature.