These Stuffed Bell Peppers are a classic weekend meal in our home, I make a big pot that has plenty for friends joining dinner or leftovers for the rest of the week. The peppers are stuffed with rice, fried onions and portabello mushrooms, herbs and spices. Those are then cooked in a delicious tomato sauce for about an hour.
Vegan ❤
Originally this dish is made with ground beef and rice (which is also very tasty). But today I’d like to share my vegan version with you, because it’s absolutely delicious, looks very impressive and can be eaten and enjoyed by everyone around the table.
I used mainly Bell Peppers here but also snuck in some Zucchini’s I had lying around, I got this really cool Zucchini Corer that allows me to easily make a length wise hole in them and provides plenty of space for stuffing. They also fit perfectly in the pot, in between the bell peppers.
How to make it
Fry some rice with olive oil. I like round Risotto rice because it’s lovely and mushy, but any rice will do here depending on your personal preference
Add water and cook normally, remove from from heat 5 minutes before it finishes cooking and set aside to cool
Finely chop up some onions and garlic, be lazy and use a cutter like this one 😉
fry them up until nice until transparent
Cube the mushrooms and add with to the onions
Sauté until all fluids are evaporated
Add chopped Cilantro, cook for one minute longer
Add to rice, together with tomato paste and spices
Mix well together
In a big, wide pot, fry some more onions and garlic
Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, cilantro, ground ginger and spices, let simmer on low heat
Meanwhile, cut the heads of medium sized bell peppers and remove seeds
Stuff each with the rice mixture
If you like some zucchini in there too, just make a hole in it using a zucchini corer
Stuff it so it’s full all way through (I normally cut the Zucchini in half so it fits in the pot nicely)
Start by arranging the peppers, make sure they support each other and fill the entire pot, standing tightly next to each other
Add Zucchini’s in between them. Then, using a spoon, cover each bell pepper with some of the tomato sauce underneath
Cover with remaining rice
Cook 30 minutes over medium heat and transfer to a preheated oven for another 30 minutes
Serve warm with a side of salad. Look how beautiful it is when you cut it open!
Looking for another awesome Vegan main dish? Check out this Burgul Stuffed Eggplant
- 6-7 Bell Peppers ( Red, Orange or Yellow work best)
- 4 Tbsp Olive oil, divided
- 2 Cups of uncooked rice (risotto or other)
- ½ Tsp salt
- 8 Garlic Cloves, chopped finely
- 2 Onions, Chopped Finely
- 6 Portobello Mushrooms
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro, chopped (40 grams/1.5 oz)
- 1 Tomato paste (140 grams/5 oz)
- ½ Tbsp Ras El Hanout or Baharat Spice
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 1 Tsp Paprika spice
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 Onions, Chopped Roughly
- 5 Garlic Cloves, chopped Roughly
- 8 Tomatoes, crushed (or two cans crushed tomatoes)
- 1Tsp Freshly Ground Ginger
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro, chopped (40 grams/1.5oz)
- 1 Tomato paste (140 grams/5 oz)
- ½ Tsp sugar
- ½ Tsp Salt
- ½ Tsp Pepper
- 1½ cups water
- In a large pot fry the rice with 1 Tbsp of oil on medium low heat for 1 minute, stirring.
- Add 4 Cups of water and ½ Tsp salt and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, take the heat down to low and cover for 15 minutes. remove from heat and set aside to cool without the lid.
- In a wide skillet, add 3 Tbsp of olive oil, onions and garlic. Sauté on medium-low heat until transparent
- Add Portobello mushrooms and sauté until all liquids are evaporated
- Add chopped cilantro and stir, set aside to cool a bit
- Combine the onion mushroom mix with the rice, add tomato paste and spices, mix well together
- Cut open the top of the peppers with a sharp knife as shown in the post and fill with the rice mixture completely, use a spoon to push the rice inside
- In a large pot add olive oil, onions and garlic. Sauté until garlic is transparent.
- Add crushed tomatoes, ginger, chopped cilantro, tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper and water. Stir well, bring to a boil and simmer on low heat.
- Organize the peppers in the pot on top of the sauce, spoon some sauce on top of each pepper
- Add remaining rice on top of it all and cover, cook on medium heat for 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 200 °C (395 °F)
- Add Pot in the oven for an additional 30 minutes, serve warm
Leave a Reply