Moldovan Stuffed Peppers

One of the 'yummies' on my list of tasty Moldovan food are the stuffed peppers. I was surprised how easy they were to make, so I thought I would share the recipe with you incase you would like to have a cultural taste of Moldova.

Some of the things you would miss, should you not be in Moldova, is the shopping at the market to buy the much cheaper grown local peppers, now that they are in season. Shopping at the farmer's market is an adventure in itself. Also, carrying your plastic bag filled with peppers home for the night's meal, sure makes you feel like one of the crowd as someone else is bound to be making the same dish that night.

Moldovan Stuffed Peppers:

8 bell peppers (local peppers are small/medium sized and tend to be a little bitter)

1 onion

1 carrot

2 cups of cooked rice

2 cups of mince raw beef

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

fresh dill

parsley

salt

Step 1: Cut a small opening on top the pepper and hollow out. Set aside.
Step 2: Finely dice the onion. Sauté in a fair amount of oil. Grate the carrot and add to the sautéing onion till both are soft. Add in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and mix together. Let cook together for a minute. Remove onion mixture to a bowl.
Step 3: Add the cooked rice, chopped dill and a good amount of salt to the onion mixture. Don't skimp on the salt. It really enhances the flavor.
Step 4: Add the mince beef to the mixture. If you don't have a meat grinder you can always break up the mince meat into tiny sizes. Mix all together.
Step 5: Stuff peppers full and place upright in a pot. The pot should be tightly packed with peppers to keep them standing up.
Step 6: Cover with water, salt and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. Sprinkle parsley over top.
Step 7: Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the peppers are soft.
Step 8: Serve peppers with a dollop of sour cream.

Pretty easy, huh! Now you just need to be adventurous and make some, or you could come visit us and I'll make a hearty plateful just for you!