Ardei Umpluti — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Sweet bell peppers filled with a seasoned mixture of ground beef, rice, and herbs, baked in a rich tomato sauce until the peppers are tender and the filling is juicy.

Ingredients

8 medium bell peppers, tops cut and seeds removed
400g ground beef
150g rice, rinsed
1 onion, finely diced
2 carrots, grated
400g tomato passata
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp sweet paprika
Fresh dill, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and black pepper
Sour cream for serving
200ml water

Instructions

1 Sauté diced onion in oil until golden. Mix with ground beef, rice, grated carrot, dill, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper.
2 Stuff each pepper with the filling, leaving a little room at the top for the rice to expand during cooking.
3 Place peppers upright in a baking dish, fitting them snugly so they support each other.
4 Mix tomato passata with tomato paste and water. Pour around the peppers until the sauce reaches halfway up.
5 Cover with foil and bake at 180C for one hour. Remove foil for the last fifteen minutes to let the tops brown slightly.
6 Serve hot with generous spoonfuls of sour cream over each pepper. The sauce should be thick and rich.

Did You Know?

Moldovans are so passionate about ardei umpluti that there are annual village competitions to determine the best stuffed pepper maker in the region.