Stuffed Peppers with Pork and Rice in Tomato Sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   Par-cook the rice

   Rinse the rice, put it in a saucepan with 200 ml of water, and bring to a boil. Simmer covered over low heat for 8 minutes, then drain and leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 190 °C.

   
2. 2

   Prepare the filling

   Finely chop the onion and sauté it in 10 ml of oil over medium heat for 5 minutes, until translucent but not browned. Leave it to cool briefly. In a bowl, mix it with the pork, rice, egg, chopped parsley, sweet paprika, marjoram, black pepper, and 3 g of salt.

   
3. 3

   Stuff the peppers and prepare the sauce

   Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds and white ribs. Loosely fill them with the meat mixture to about three-quarters full, leaving room for the rice to expand as it finishes cooking. Grease a baking dish with the remaining 5 ml of oil. In a saucepan, mix the passata, stock, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and 2 g of salt. Bring briefly to a gentle simmer, then pour the sauce around the peppers.

   
4. 4

   Bake the peppers covered

   Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes at 190 °C. The sauce should be gently bubbling and the peppers should be starting to soften.

   
5. 5

   Finish baking and cook the potatoes

   After 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake the peppers for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the filling is lightly browned on top, the peppers are soft, and the centre of the filling reaches at least 71 °C. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, cut them into evenly sized pieces, and boil them in 1,500 ml of water with 4 g of salt for 18 to 20 minutes, until tender.

   
6. 6

   Finish the mash and serve

   Drain and mash the potatoes. Warm the milk, stir it into the potatoes with the butter, and beat the mash until smooth. Let the peppers stand for 5 minutes; taste the sauce and check the balance—it should be gently sweet and sour and sufficiently salty. Serve with the mash and sauce.