Stuffed Paprika

I’m not sure why stuffing minced meat into a bell pepper completely transforms both ingredients, but it does. A delicious smell wafting through your home will be a welcome byproduct of this comfort food classic. And it is even super diet friendly! So what are you waiting for, give it a try!

Stuffed paprika are another austro-hungarian classic my mum likes to cook. And I love eating it. Usually the stuffing is mixed with cooked rice, which we skip for dieting reasons. If you have the macros left, you can add the rice as a side dish anyway.

I shopped many of the ingredients in a turkish supermarket and the oriental spirit inspired me: dried apricots should be really delicious here, and I was right. They add a slight sweetness, complementing the rather spicy sauce. I also chose to use a turkish spice blend for minced meat and it worked really well, but you can use whatever you fancy.

The minced meat is a mix of chicken and leen beef which makes the dish lighter than the traditionally used minced pork. You could also use minced lamb if you have the calories to spare (I envy you). Lamb would surely work fantastic here! I recommend cumin and a little cinnamon in this case for the full near-east-experience.

My father hates everything with tomatoes in it, but this sauce is the exception. Make sure it is spicy and you put as much love in it as into the stuffed paprika, it is an important part of the dish.

Ingredients

• 1100g Minced chicken breast
• 1150g Minced lean beef
• 300g Dried apricot
• 2400g Bell peppers (12)
• 690g Passata
• 70g Tomato concentrate
• 150g Parsley
• 500g Onions
• 50g Olive oil
• 500ml Water
• Mediterrean/oriental spices, garlic

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 170°C.
2. Get a big bowl and put the minced chicken breast and minced lean beef into it. Peel and cut the onions into fine pieces, half the dried apricots and finely chop the parsley. Add dried garlic, salt, pepper and spices of your liking. I used a turkish spice blend for this. Mix everything together and make sure it is well seasoned.
3. Cut around the stalk of the bell peppers and remove it, but keep it. This will be the lid that keeps the stuffing in. Remove the pips, but don’t obsess about it, they are edible and will be soft anyways. Firmly stuff the meat mixture into the hollow peppers using a spoon. Push the stalk into the pepper to seal it.
4. Get a roasting tray that fits the peppers as perfectly as possible. Set it on medium heat, add the olive oil, as much sliced garlic as you want, some fennel seeds and slowly roast the remaining stuffing until golden. Add the tomato concentrate and some chilli if you want to, and fry a little longer.
5. Turn down the heat slightly, add the passata and water (if you think you need more liquid to almost cover the peppers) and bring to a boil. Add the peppers, cover with a lid or wet baking parchment and let it cook in the oven for about two hours.

Macros

1 Portion, which is one pepper and some of the tomato sauce has the following macros:

• 435kcal
• 46,4g Protein
• 30,4g Carbs
• 10,8g Fat

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