18 big-sized peppers

It is a traditional winter dish for the Bulgarians. Very appetizing, satiating and suitable for fasting periods.

Products:

18 pcs. dried red peppers (bigger)

2 cups Basmati rice

1 cup water

2 large leeks stalks, chopped (might be more)

3 tbsps savory

black pepper to taste

sunflower oil to taste (perfectly matches with peppers) – for frying and for seasoning during baking;

salt to taste

Preparation:

Soak the peppers in lukewarm water to soften. When ready, drain them and deseed them.

Fry leeks in a saucepan. When it is almost ready, I add the rice (the temperature of the hob is at the lowest degree), the black pepper, the savory and the salt. I pour 1 more cup of water. Stir until the rice absorbs it completely. The stuffing is ready.

I fill the peppers with the ready stuffing.

I arrange them in a deep tray. Pour some sunflower oil to taste and water to cover the peppers almost entirely (the rice will absorb it completely).

Seal the tray with aluminum foil and bake for about 1 hour in a preheated oven at 180-200ᴼC. Shortly before they are ready, I remove the foil and turn the peppers one by one upside down. I leave them for a while to roast. If all the water is absorbed, I add a little more.

Tips:

With this stuffing you can fill sauerkraut leaves and get wonderful sarma*. In this case you do not have to add any salt. The cabbage is salty enough.

The best option is to put both peppers and sarma in the same tray. The tastes match perfectly and you will enjoy an extremely appetizing meal!

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarma_(food)