Stuffed Peppers 🫑 Serbian Lenten 🇷🇸 (Posne Punjene Paprike)

Description

Sweet bell peppers packed with a savory rice-and-mushroom mix, baked in silky tomato sauce—comforting, meat-free classic. 🍅🌿

Hook: Pantry-friendly, one-pan fasting favorite—juicy peppers, rich sauce, zero dairy. ⚡

Ingredients

• Peppers & filling
• 🫑 Bell peppers, tops trimmed & seeded: 6 medium (≈900 g / 2 lb)
• 🧅 Onion, finely chopped: 200 g (1⅓ cups / 7 oz)
• 🥕 Carrot, small dice: 100 g (¾ cup / 3.5 oz)
• 🍄 Mushrooms, finely chopped: 250 g (2½ cups / 8.8 oz)
• 🧄 Garlic, minced: 8 g (2 cloves / 0.3 oz)
• 🌾 Medium-grain rice, rinsed: 180 g (1 cup / 6.3 oz)
• 🌶️ Sweet paprika: 6 g (2 tsp / 0.21 oz)
• 🍅 Tomato paste: 30 g (2 tbsp / 1.1 oz)
• 🌿 Parsley, chopped: 8 g (2 tbsp / 0.28 oz)
• 🫗 Sunflower oil: 45 ml (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈7 g / 1¼ tsp)
• ⚫ Black pepper: 1 g (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
• 💧 Vegetable stock or water (to moisten filling): 240 ml (1 cup / 8 fl oz)
• Baking sauce
• 🍅 Tomato passata (or crushed tomatoes): 400 ml (1⅔ cups / 13.5 fl oz)
• 💧 Water: 300 ml (1¼ cups / 10 fl oz)
• 🫗 Sunflower oil: 30 ml (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
• 🌿 Bay leaves: 2
• 🍬 Sugar (pinch to balance): 5 g (1 tsp / 0.18 oz)
• 🧂 Salt: to taste (≈5 g / 1 tsp)

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Sauté base: Warm oil; cook onion & carrot with a pinch of salt 6–8 min until soft. Add mushrooms 4–5 min to release moisture; stir in garlic 30 sec.
2. 2️⃣ Season & fold: Add paprika and tomato paste 1 min. Stir in rice, parsley, salt, and pepper; pour in stock/water and simmer 3–4 min until the rice just starts to swell.
3. 3️⃣ Stuff: Fill peppers loosely (rice expands). Stand them snugly in a baking dish; cap with reserved tops if you like.
4. 4️⃣ Sauce: Whisk passata, water, oil, sugar, and salt; tuck in bay leaves. Pour around peppers to come ⅓–½ up their sides.
5. 5️⃣ Bake: Cover and bake at 190°C / 375°F 35 min. Uncover and bake 15–20 min more until peppers are tender and sauce slightly thick. Rest 10 min.

Total Time

🕒 Prep: 25 min
🔥 Cook: 55 min
⏳ Total: 1 h 20 min

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