🌾 White rice (medium/short grain), rinsed: 250 g (1¼ cups / 8.8 oz)
🧂 Salt: to taste (≈10 g / 1¾ tsp)
⚫ Black pepper: 1 g (½ tsp / 0.04 oz)
🌶️ Sweet paprika: 4 g (1½ tsp / 0.14 oz)
🍅 Tomato paste: 30 g (2 tbsp / 1 oz)
🌿 Parsley or dill, chopped: 2 tbsp (8 g / 0.28 oz)
🫒 Sunflower/olive oil: 45 ml (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
💧 Vegetable stock or water (for parcooking rice): 360 ml (1½ cups / 12 fl oz)
Baking Sauce
🍅 Crushed tomatoes or passata: 400 g (1¾ cups / 14.1 oz)
💧 Water/veg stock: 250 ml (1 cup / 8 fl oz)
🫒 Oil: 30 ml (2 tbsp / 1 fl oz)
🌿 Bay leaf: 1
🍬 Sugar (to balance): 3 g (½ tsp / 0.1 oz)
🧂 Salt: to taste (≈6 g / 1 tsp)
Preparation
1️⃣ Start filling: Heat 🫒 oil in a wide pan. Sauté 🧅 onion 5–6 min; add 🥕 carrot 2 min, then 🍄 mushrooms 3–4 min until moisture cooks off.
2️⃣ Toast & parcook rice: Stir in 🌾 rice 1 min. Add 🍅 tomato paste, 🌶️ paprika, 🧂, ⚫, and 💧 1½ cups stock/water. Simmer 6–7 min—rice should be half-cooked and still wet. Off heat; fold in 🌿 herbs.
3️⃣ Stuff: Pack the peppers loosely (rice expands). Stand them in a snug baking dish.
4️⃣ Sauce & bake: Whisk 🍅 tomatoes, 💧 water, 🫒 oil, 🌿 bay, 🍬 sugar, and 🧂 salt. Pour around peppers to come halfway up. Cover with foil; bake at 190°C / 375°F 30–35 min. Uncover and bake 15–20 min until peppers are tender and tops lightly blistered.
5️⃣ Rest & serve: Rest 10 min, spooning sauce over each pepper.
Total Time
🕒 Prep: 20 min
🔥 Cook: 50–55 min
⏳ Total: 1 h 10–15 min
Nutritional Value
🔋 Energy: ~280 kcal
💪 Protein: ~6 g
🧈 Fat: ~10 g
🍞 Carbohydrates: ~44 g
🧂 Sodium: ~600 mg
Advice
Par-cook rice only to al dente and don’t jam the filling—space lets steam finish the grains without bursting the peppers.
Why it works
A brief stovetop cook hydrates rice so it finishes evenly in the oven; baking the peppers in tomato sauce steams from the outside while reducing into a glossy, spoonable bath.
Twist
Make it Ottoman-style with 2 tbsp raisins + 1 tbsp pine nuts, or go hearty with chopped spinach and a handful of cooked chickpeas for extra protein.
Status
Saucy, soft, and purely Lenten—Bulgarian-style stuffed peppers that taste like Sunday at baba’s. #grannyzen #bulgariancuisine 🌶️🍅
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