Pimientos Rellenos

For this recipe I use 4 large peppers which gives us enough for a main course for 4 people when served with a side salad. You could use 8 smaller peppers and serve 8 people as a starter or 4 as a main course. The quantities of mince and rice I have used can be varied depending on how meaty or not you want this to be.

Ingredients

Serves 4 or 8

• 4 large red peppers or 8 medium peppers, tops sliced off and seeded

For the Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons of flour
• 200ml of vegetable or chicken stock
• 150ml white wine
• 1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped parsley or 1 teaspoon of dried parsley

For the stuffing:

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 400g of mince
• 150g of long-grain rice (weighed before cooking) – cooked
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped parsley or 1 teaspoon of dried parsley

Cooking Method

To make the sauce:

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion slowly for about 15 minutes. Add the tomato puree, parsley and flour and fry gently for about 5 minutes. Add the stock and the white wine and bring to the boil stirring continuously. Cover, reduce the heat and let this simmer as you prepare the stuffing.

To make stuffing

Heat the oil, add the onion and garlic and fry on a high heat for a minute. Keep the heat high and add the mince stirring all the time as it gets brown. Cook this for about 10 minutes then stir in the cooked rice and parsley. Add some salt and pepper and stir for another 5 minutes.

Place the red peppers upright in a baking dish and fill them with the stuffing. Pour the sauce around the peppers and bake in a pre-heated oven at 190ºC/375ºF/gas mark 5 for approximately 40 minutes.