Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Stuffed Dried Red Peppers and Trip to Serbia



From my last trip to Serbia I brought back dried peppers bought at a farmers market. I was never crazy about them before, but when I made them yesterday they were very good... actually, I can't recall anything so delicious I ate recently.


My first thought was how expensive it would be here, in the U.S... two bunches of them, 18 in total would cost quite a lot... The stuffing is similar to risotto with mushrooms, but a sweet, mild flavor and crispy texture of peppers gives the dish something very special. And, after all, they look so gorgeous assembled in the bake ware.


This is very important - eat them with crumbled Feta cheese.




You need:


18 dried red peppers
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, cut in small pieces
2 cups of vegetable broth
150g rice
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped


Steps:

Cover the dried peppers with very hot water in a large bowl. Leave them to soften for 2 hours.

In a large skillet heat the olive oil, saute chopped onions for 3 minutes, add garlic, and chopped carrot and celery. After 4-5 minutes, add mushrooms. Before mushrooms start to produce liquid add rice and stir until rice gets coated with oil, about 1-2 minutes. Pour in vegetable broth, reduce the heat and stir stuffing constantly for 15 minutes. Remove it from the stove and allow to cool down. Stir in chopped walnuts.

Preheat the oven to 395F (200C).

Drain the peppers and stuff them with rice stuffing. Arrange them in a baking dish, cover with an aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. When the dish is almost done remove the aluminum foil and bake for a few minutes to get a nice crust.









This recipe is featured on New York Times' website 





Have a look at photos from Serbia: bakeries, typical farmers market, Sunday family lunch and downtown of Belgrade.

Bread with Sesame and Caraway Seeds

Serbian Popular Desserts: Šampita and Krempita

Burek


Savory Pastry 

Farmers Market in Spring

Wild Dried Pears


Pasta


Honey

Serbian Farmers Market


Sunday Lunch

Sauteed Sauerkraut with Smoked Fish

Jelly Rolls

Sour Cherry Phyllo Pie

Sava River, Belgrade


Belgrade, Downtown

Belgrade, Downtown


People Enjoying the Beginning of Spring

Belgrade, Downtown



6 comments:

  1. Kako vidim Uzivala si!
    Ja nazalost, nikad nista ne mogu donijeti u Australiju; ljubomorno cuvaju svoju zemlju od raznih napasti, pa nista organsko nije dozvoljeno :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mislim da nigde nije dozvoljeno da se unosi hrana i semenje... mada uvek vazi APP:)

      Delete
  2. Šampita.
    Pa valjda bih prodala bubreg za nju :D

    Nikad je se ne sjetim raditi, a to mi je jedan od omiljenih kolača.
    Ja i dečko već neko vrijeme planiramo u Beograd ali kako sam ostala bez posla ostavili smo to za neka bogatija vremena. (neću reći ljepša vremena jer nam je lijepo i ovako :)

    Jako mi se sviđa što vidim na fotografijama, posebice ova šarena tjestenina ''školjkice''. Ta mi je najdraža :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Drzim ti palceve da se uskoro odes u Beograd, i da se "ubijes" od sampita.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Moj muz jedino nije vidio Beograd. Bili smo u Sarajevu i Zagrebu e sljedeci put kada dodje vodim ga u Beograd.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Moj muz jedino nije vidio Beograd. Bili smo u Sarajevu i Zagrebu e sljedeci put kada dodje vodim ga u Beograd.

    ReplyDelete

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