Recipe for Greek Stuffed Peppers

Written by Greek Boston in Authentic Greek Food Recipes, Greek Style Minced Meat Recipes Comments Off on Recipe for Greek Stuffed Peppers

Variations of this recipe exist throughout Greece. Although this recipe calls for ground beef, you can easily use ground lamb or ground pork, or a combination of any of those meats. Make sure all the vegetables are chopped as fine as you can get them – it makes for a more pleasant dish.

Recipe for Greek Stuffed (Gemista me Piperies) Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons Greek olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1, 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes with the juices
• 1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 6 medium bell peppers (mixed colors)

How to Make Greek Stuffed Peppers:

Drizzle the olive oil into a deep skillet and set the heat to medium. Warm the oil for about 1 minute and then add the onion. Saute for five minutes, or until the onions become soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Stir in the celery for another two minutes.

Crumble the beef into the skillet and saute for about 5 – 10 minutes, or until the beef is cooked all the way through. Break the beef apart with a wooden spoon while it cooks through and has a crumbled texture. Your goal is to make sure the beef is in the smallest pieces possible. Continually stir the pan so the rest of the vegetables don’t stick to the bottom, as well.

Once the beef is cooked, stir in the diced tomatoes, oregano, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Cover the mixture and simmer it for about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and simmer the mixture until al the liquid absorbs. This should take 10-15 minutes. Remove the skillet from the burner. Let the mixture stand for another 10 minutes before spooning into the peppers.

Slice the top off of each of the peppers and remove the seeds from the inside. Don’t discard the tops. Wash the peppers well to make sure that all the seeds are removed.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush a 9 x 13 baking dish with olive oil or spray with cooking spray.

Spoon the mixture into each of the peppers and place them into the baking dish. Replace the tops on each of the peppers. Bake until the peppers are soft. This should take about one hour. Baste the peppers with the juices that come out during the cooking process about every fifteen minutes.

**Please Note:  Recommended cook times for GreekBoston.com Greek recipes vary depending on elevation, environmental conditions, the cookware being used, and the nature of the oven or stove. Although we have given approximations, these don’t always take into account your unique environment.

Categorized in: Authentic Greek Food Recipes, Greek Style Minced Meat Recipes

This post was written by Greek Boston