Stuffed Bell Peppers with Cranberries
(Turkish Zeytinyagli Biber Dolmasi)
Prep time: About 15 minutes
Cooking time: About 1 3/4 hours
Makes: 2 servings
Ingredients
- 2 large bell peppers
- 2 T. dried cranberries (or blue berries, raisins, etc.)
- 2 T. mild olive oil
- 2 T. pine nuts
- 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 t. dried dill
- 3 T. dried parsley
- 1/4 t. Creole red pepper seasoning
- 2 T. yogurt or yogurt garlic sauce.
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
Directions
- Soak the dried berries 20 minutes in 2 T. warm water.
- Heat oil in 1 quart sauce pan. Saute pine nuts 2 minutes with stirring until golden brown.
- Add onions, rice, cinnamon, 1 cup of hot water, and moistened berries.
- Stir, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
- Transfer rice to a bowl and stir in the tomatoes, dill, parsley, and Creole seasoning.
- Carefully cut the tops off the peppers. Remove seeds and cores.
- Carefully fill peppers with rice mixture. Don't overstuff them. Save extra filling to serve as a side dish.
- Place peppers upright in 2 quart sauce pan. Mine has a diameter of 7 inches, into which I can fit a 6 3/4 inch saucer.
- Pour 1 cup of water around the peppers, being careful to not pour water into the peppers.
- Put a saucer on top of the peppers to weigh them down (and keep steam from condensing and filling peppers).
- Simmer 1 hour or until water is absorbed.
- Cool and serve with lemon wedges. Top each pepper with 1 T. of yogurt or yogurt garlic sauce.
Modified from recipe for "Zeytinyagli Biber Dolmasi" in "The Sultan's Kitchen" by Özcan Ozan, 1998.
Up a Level Return to Home Page