Mushroom-Stuffed Peppers

Name: Mushroom-Stuffed Peppers with Rice and Spicy Garlic Dressing
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Sweet red bell pepper 4; Wild or button mushrooms, boiled 100 g; Rice 3 tbsp (41 g); Onion 1; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Saffron or marigold petals a pinch; Dried herbs (basil, oregano, savory) 1-2 pinches; Salt, black pepper to taste; Water for boiling the rice and mushrooms; Garlic a few small cloves; Balsamic vinegar 2-3 drops; Olive oil 1-2 tbsp; Salt a pinch; Black pepper optional; Fresh greens a few sprigs

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Mushroom-stuffed peppers are a surprisingly tasty dish with a spicy dressing. The best option is fresh or frozen wild mushrooms, if you have them.

It is said that any dish should be harmonious in every sense: a side dish should go with the meat or fish, the filling with its wrapper, the sauce with the dish, and so on. Stuffing is, perhaps, a wonderful chance to show some imagination and creativity, a way to try your hand at culinary masterpieces.

If you read cookbooks closely, especially books on national cuisines or even just recipe collections, you may be surprised by the variety of flavor and ingredient combinations. In the East, for example, sweet chicken or pork in a sweet sauce is not unusual. Or pure exotica: pumpkin flowers stuffed with potato and duck, grasshoppers baked in dough, bread with mushrooms.

In season there are plenty of bell peppers in the shops, and the best dishes made from them are stuffed peppers with pork, or stuffed peppers with chicken. If for some reason meat and chicken do not suit you, you can make peppers stuffed with mushrooms and rice, with a spicy, aromatic dressing, a vegetarian option.

More with bell peppers and mushrooms

Glass Noodles with Vegetables

30 min

Chicken Breast with Mushrooms in Tomato Sauce

1 h 10 min

Red Rice with Mushrooms

1 h

Roasted Pepper Salad

1 h

Ingredients

2 servings

For the peppers and filling
Sweet red bell pepper 4
Wild or button mushrooms, boiled 100 g
Rice 3 tbsp (41 g)
Onion 1
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Saffron or marigold petals a pinch
Dried herbs (basil, oregano, savory) 1-2 pinches
Salt, black pepper to taste
Water for boiling the rice and mushrooms
For the dressing
Garlic a few small cloves
Balsamic vinegar 2-3 drops
Olive oil 1-2 tbsp
Salt a pinch
Black pepper optional
For serving
Fresh greens a few sprigs

Step-by-step recipe

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Peppers

Red bell peppers are sold almost everywhere in season. I prefer them for stuffing, purely for aesthetic reasons.
The peppers need to be roasted first. You can do it any way you are used to and know how. Bulgarians roast peppers with a wonderful kitchen gadget, the chushkopek, a special electric oven for peppers. You can also roast them over a gas flame or in embers. The easiest way in a home kitchen is the microwave.
Remove the seeds and stems from the peppers.
Roast the peppers in the microwave at full power for 8-10 minutes.
Immediately put the roasted peppers into a plastic bag, tie it tightly shut, and let them cool completely. This way the outer skin comes off easily.

Filling

If you have no wild mushrooms, button mushrooms will do. But it is best to use wild slippery jacks, bay boletes or birch boletes.
Boil the rice until fully cooked in lightly salted water with a pinch of saffron or marigold petals. Drain the rice in a colander and rinse it with cold water.
Boil fresh mushrooms until done (wild ones for about 20 minutes) and chop them finely with a knife, about the size you would cut vegetables for vinaigrette.
Peel and finely chop the onion.
Fry the onion in 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat until golden.
Add the chopped mushrooms to the onion. Fry everything for 4-5 minutes, stirring.
Season the filling with a little salt and pepper. Be sure to add 1-2 pinches of dried aromatic herbs: basil, oregano, savory. By the way, Bulgarian savory (chubritsa) is perfect for any vegetables stuffed with meat or mushrooms.
Cover and stew the onion and mushrooms for 10 minutes over low heat.
Add the boiled, rinsed rice and stir.
Pile the whole filling in a mound, cover, and keep it over low heat for about 15 minutes.
The filling for the peppers must steam through and have no free liquid at all. The mushrooms with onion and rice must be “dry”, otherwise the filling will fall out.

Stuffing

Stuff the roasted, unpeeled peppers fairly tightly with the rice and mushroom mixture.
Once the pepper is stuffed, very carefully peel off the thin outer skin with your fingers. It comes off easily.

Dressing and serving

Peel a few small garlic cloves and chop them finely with a knife.
Put the garlic in a small bowl and salt it with a pinch of fine salt. If you like, add some black pepper. Add 2-3 drops of balsamic vinegar and stir.
Once the salt has dissolved, add 1-2 tbsp of olive oil.
Arrange the stuffed peppers on plates and garnish with a sprig of greens. Drizzle with the prepared dressing of garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Before serving, you can sprinkle with finely chopped greens if you like.