RECIPE : STUFFED PEPPERS - Food for Angels

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Croatian cuisine is extremely delicious , and due to the very many recipes we use - we just cannot be hungry. From very simple ingredients is possible to cook excellent meals - if one knows how to cook.

In my hub COOKING IN CROATIA I presented photos of some common meals we cook as well as I promised to share some recipes with my readers.

Staffed peppers are certainly one of my favorite meals, speciality which we all here love to eat. I do not cook this meal very often, only several times per year but its taste is - unforgettable.

This is one of the meals you usually do not cook just for one day - we use it for at least two lunches (or dinners) - this is the meal which will next day surprise you even more then first day: its taste is improving after spending night in the cool place (fridge). First day its taste is excellent, but the next - it is so good that angels would it it.

In original recipe peppers are stuffed with mince meat (pork, beef or turkey) but I use soy meat instead, because

• on that way heavy meals become much lighter,
• my level of energy higher...
• plus I do not gain weight (what is soooo important for good health).

Do not we all want to look young, slim and sexy and at the same time eat excellent food?

So here is my recipe for it, exactly on the way I cook it :

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Textured Vegetable Protein TVP - is a meat substitute that is made from defatted soy flour. it is re-hydrated soy meat, very practical way for substituting meat while cooking the meals. Soy mince you use insted of mince meat. Put the needed quantity in the bawl, add gradualy boiled or hot water, re-hydrated soy will soak it (like spunge) and in less then minute you will have nice soft soy meat.

Here is my heavenly recipe , exactly on the way I cook it :

Ingredients:

8-12 green, yellow, green or red peppers (preferably sweet ones),

1/2 - 3/4 cup of rice (I use parboiled rice)

1 egg

2 onions

several cloves of garlic

several fresh tomatoes

tomato sauce 1-2 cannes

1 cup - 1,5 cup of re-hydrated soy mince meat

salt, black pepper, paprika powder (sweet one) , oil. for cooking, ( one spoon of the flour)

1. Cut the top of the peppers and remove the seeds and stems. Set aside.

2. Prepare soy mince in one bowl (add gradually hot water to make it soft. It should look exactly as mince meat).

3. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high flame. Add 1 thinly sliced onion and stirr until becomes translucent and starts brown.

4. Add that onion (with oil) to the soy meat. Add enough of salt, black pepper, paprika powder (aprox. one spoon, but adjust quantity to your personal taste) . Mix together and taste it. It must have nice spicy taste.

5. Add rice to the soy - mixture. Mix together. Add egg and mix.

6. Stuff peppers with that mixture, I usually do it with my fingers, this is the quickest way.

7. If there is any left-overs of mixture, great! You will add it to the sauce.

8. It is also great that you have at least one pepper extra cut on slices and add it to the sauce.

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Now is the time for lovely sauce in which your stuffed peppers will be cooked!

1. You need big pan for cooking it. Put oil on the bottom of pan.

2. Slice the onion and tomatoes.

2. Add your sliced onion to pre-heated- oil, stirr it to become transluscent and yellow, then add sliced tomatoes. Fry them together for next several minutes, then add cup or two of water and stirr together.

4. Add tomato sauce - 1 or 2 cans, according to your taste and size of your pan. All together should look like tomato soup. I love when is more tomato sauce, so I usually use two cans.

5. Add salt, a little bit black pepper and cook till it starts to boil.

6. Carefully add your staffed peppers in boiling sauce (top of peepers needs to be up, so stuffing will not fall out) and cook them till peppers do not become lovely soft (3-40 minutes). If you think that your sauce is to sour, you can add small spoon of sugar in it.

7. 5 minutes before you finish, cut several cloves of garlic on tiny pieces and add it to the sauce. At the end, if you want more creamy sauce, you can mix in small cup spoon of flour with water and add it to the sauce. Cook few minutes more and voila - is done.

8. I hope you already prepared mashed potateos - they go the best with stuffed peppers.

I wish you to enjoy  this great meal!

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.If you feel hungry after reading this Hub, feel free to check Amazon.com Grocery Store.

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