ETLI DOLMA ( STUFFED PEPPERS WITH GROUND MINCE )

Hi all, I have been asked by friends to make  some etli dolma but without too much hassle. Capsicum peppers are widely available in this country  and although  they are quite firm fleshed, this method of cooking was very successful and easy to prepare.

INGREDIENTS

• 500 g mixed capsicum peppers, about 5 medium
• 200-250 g lean beef or lamb mince
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 1-2 cloves of garlic,crushed ( optional )
• handful of fresh parsley or 1 tsp of  dried mix herb
• 4-5 tbsp of rice (100 g ), washed
• 1  cup of water ( about 300ml )  
• 1 tbsp of pepper paste or tomato paste
• salt and black pepper to taste
• I medium tomato, sliced
• 2  cups of hot water (500 ml )
• drizzle of olive oil.

METHOD

First wash the peppers and remove the tops by cutting them round with a knife. Scoop out the seeds from peppers with a spoon.

PREPARE THE FILLING

 Fry the chopped onion with olive oil for 5 minutes, then add the mince, garlic to brown the meat together with the onion. Add the washed rice, pepper paste, parsley and pour 1 or 1 and a half cup of water, enough to cover the rice and mince mixture. Stir, add salt and pepper then bring it to boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover the pan and let the filling simmer 10-12 minutes until the rice is soft enough  but still al dente. Turn the heat off. 

TO COOK

Spoon out the filling, 2 tbsp per pepper to fill them but not over fill the peppers. Place one tomato slice on top of each pepper and press all round gently so that tomatoes covers the filling securely. ( You can use the pepper tops that we removed but tomato slices holds the filling better.)

Stand the peppers upside  down  in a dip saucepan.( In doing so, the filling will cook better through the tomato lid ). Add 2 cups of hot water in the pan about half way up to the  peppers. Drizzle with olive oil and bring the peppers to boil. Then  turn the heat to low and simmer the peppers about 45 minutes with the pan lid on. When the peppers are soft enough, turn the heat off, let it rest for 5  minutes. 

Then lift them into an oven proof dish carefully. Pre heat the grill and brown the peppers for about 5- 7 minutes just before serving.

 

NOTE: This dish is ready to serve after you cook the peppers  on the stove and it is not essential to grill them. But it is  presented better if you brown the peppers for a few minutes.

MEAT AND RICE FILLED PEPPERS ( kiymali dolma )

YOU NEED

• 1/2 kg peppers
• 250 g lean steak mince
• 1 -2 tbsp oil
• 1 cup  of rice
• 2 onion
• bunch of fresh parsley
• salt, black pepper
• 2-3 tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• some water
• little oil 
• extra tomatoes, sliced,  to use them as lids  for  the peppers.

First wash the peppers and take the stalks out by cutting around them and pushing them inwards with your thumb. Then prepare the filling. Place the mince into a dip dish, add the washed rice, oil. Chop the onions finely and dice the tomatoes, adding the  chopped parsley in to the mince and rice mixture.  Some salt and black pepper to taste and then mix it all together to bind it. 

Stuff each pepper loosely with the mixture( about 1 -2 table spoonful each pepper) making sure to leave room for  rice to expand. if we stuff the peppers too much the rice wont cook through. Cut the tomatoes into small round shapes to cover the peppers like a lid. Then transfer the peppers to a dip pan and add some water to cover up to half way of the peppers. Mix the tomato puree in some water and pour it over the peppers making sure the water covers the peppers at this stage.  Drizzle some oil over the peppers then, put the pan on a high heat and bring it to boil. Then turn the heat to low and let it cook slowly for 25-30 minutes until it is cooked. When cooked, transfer it to a serving plate  and use the juices as sauce for the peppers. Afiyet olsun...

COOK'S NOTE

In Turkey we prefer the small, thin skinned  peppers  for  this dish. The measurements above are for small peppers. If you are using larger, firm flesh capsicums you need to use more stuffing per pepper.

Please see my post for ETLI DOLMA, on 18- Nov- 08. made with CAPSICUM PEPPERS.