Polneti piperki

Ingredients

The peppers

• 12long red peppers
• or bell peppers
• tops cut off and seeded

The filling

• 500 gminced beef
• or a beef and pork mix
• 150 gshort grain rice
• rinsed
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tablespoonspaprika
• sweet, plus a little hot
• 1 teaspoondried mint, optional
• chopped parsley
• salt and black pepper
• 3 tablespoonsoil

The sauce

• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoonstomato paste
• 1 tablespoonpaprika
• about 500 ml water or stock
• 1 tablespoonflour, optional
• salt

To serve

• with yoghurt
• and bread

Directions

1. Fill the peppers about two thirds only. The sauce must not ever run dry. Check it and add water as needed. Paprika burns readily in hot fat. Add it off the heat or on low heat. Stir it in quickly off the heat. Take the pan off the heat first.
2. Cut the tops off all the peppers. Cut around the stem in a circle. Keep the tops if you want lids. Some cooks use them and some do not. Pull out the seeds and white pith. The pith is bitter and should come out.
3. Rinse the inside to clear loose seeds. Shake the water out afterwards. Turn them upside down to drain. Give them a good few minutes to drain. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan. Add the chopped onion in to it. Cook it for about eight minutes. The onion should soften completely.
4. Cook it properly before mixing. Add the crushed garlic to the pan. Cook it for one full minute only. Take the pan right off the heat. Stir in all of the ground paprika. Stir it right through quickly. Put the mince in a large bowl. Add the cooked onion mixture in. Add the rinsed raw rice to them. Add the parsley and seasoning. Work it together thoroughly by hand. The rice must be evenly distributed.
5. Mix it properly rather than briefly. Season it more strongly than seems right. Fry a small spoonful in a pan. Taste it and adjust the seasoning. It takes two minutes and is worth it. Spoon the filling into each pepper. Fill them about two thirds full. Leave real room at the very top. Pack it in loosely rather than tightly. The rice needs room to expand.
6. Set the cut pepper tops back on. Cook the chopped tomatoes down. Add the tomato paste in to them. Cook the paste for two minutes. Take it off the heat and stir paprika in. Again the paprika must not burn. Return it to the heat afterwards. Season the whole pot well with salt.
7. Stand the peppers upright in a pot. Pack them in together fairly snugly. Pour the sauce around the peppers. It should come most of the way up. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and let it cook. Give it about fifty full minutes.
8. Check one of them before serving. Check the sauce level as it cooks. The pot can dry out and catch. Add hot water if the pot runs low. Judging them takes a proper test. Cut one open to check the rice. The rice should be fully cooked. Cook them longer if it is hard. Mix flour with a little cold water.
9. Stir it into the simmering sauce. Some cooks do it and some do not. Mix it with cold water to avoid lumps. Let them stand for ten minutes. They are extremely hot inside. Lift them out carefully with a spoon. Spoon sauce over each one of them. Serve sour yoghurt alongside them. Serve bread with it all as well. They are eaten hot with a fork.

Technique

• The rice goes in raw and roughly triples in volume as it absorbs liquid, so fill the peppers only about two thirds and pack the filling loosely — overfilled ones split open. Raw rice also absorbs the meat juices and takes on their flavour, which pre-cooked rice does not.
• Paprika burns readily in hot fat and turns bitter when it does, which is a common mistake in the region’s cooking. Take the pan right off the heat before stirring it in, both for the filling and for the sauce, then return it to a low heat.
• Watch the sauce level throughout: the rice absorbs a great deal of liquid and the pot can dry out and catch, so add hot water if it runs low. Undercooked rice hidden inside a pepper is the usual fault, so always cut one open to check before serving.

Substitutions

• Bell peppers stand in for the long red peppers of the Vardar valley, which are sweeter and thinner-walled.
• They can be baked in a deep dish rather than simmered in a pot, which gives a slightly drier result; both are genuinely done.

Variations

• Season the filling more strongly than seems right, since the rice dilutes it considerably and the peppers add nothing salty; fry one small spoonful and taste it, as raw meat mixture cannot be tasted.
• Scrape out the bitter white pith with a small spoon along with the seeds, then turn the peppers upside down to drain, since water inside dilutes the filling.
• Stand them upright packed fairly snugly so they hold each other up, with the sauce coming most of the way up but not covering them — the tops cook in the steam.

History

Peppers stuffed with rice and minced meat, using the long red peppers grown along the Vardar valley.

Frequently asked questions

What is Polneti piperki?

Polneti piperki is a main from North Macedonia: peppers stuffed with rice, mince, paprika. Peppers stuffed with rice and minced meat, using the long red peppers grown along the Vardar valley.

How long does Polneti piperki take to make?

Polneti piperki takes 40 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Polneti piperki?

Yes, within limits. Bell peppers stand in for the long red peppers of the Vardar valley, which are sweeter and thinner-walled. They can be baked in a deep dish rather than simmered in a pot, which gives a slightly drier result; both are genuinely done.

What is the most important thing to get right in Polneti piperki?

Fill the peppers about two thirds only. The sauce must not ever run dry. Check it and add water as needed. Paprika burns readily in hot fat. Add it off the heat or on low heat. Stir it in quickly off the heat. Take the pan off the heat first.