My love affair continues with Sofrito, the Spanish slow cooked tomato-olive oil-mirepoix that’s a staple in a healthy Mediterranean diet. I now make it regularly, storing it in small jars in my freezer and searching for ways to incorporate it into the foods we make. For example, these stuffed peppers, a recipe I am proud to say I came up with all by myself. Well, actually, that’s not entirely true. I had a little help from my friends (and family). Let me tell you how it went down…
Last week, while at the market, a beautiful multicolored fresh pepper medley caught my eye. I knew I had a pound of lean ground beef and one last ziplock bag of this past summer’s corn in our freezer, and decided to make stuffed peppers. I think I’ve only made stuffed peppers once in my life, so obviously, I needed a recipe.
I went home, took the ground beef out of the freezer and called my sister Rosemary, who I knew made a mean taco stuffed pepper. She told me she uses ground turkey in her recipe – much healthier, I know, but my ground beef was already defrosting. Her recipe also called for salsa and taco seasoning mix, neither of which I had. But I did have sofrito, which would be a delicious and healthy substitute for salsa, thus assuaging my guilt for using beef instead of turkey. The sofrito got me thinking that my peppers might lean more towards Spain than Mexico in their seasonings.
Consulting my spice cabinet, I chose sea salt, freshly ground Tellicherry peppercorns (Costco is a great source), ground Chipotle powder (from Sahadi’s Lebanese grocery on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn), Ground cumin (brought back from Morocco by my friend Annette), Pimenton de la vera (Spanish sweet smoked paprika brought back from Spain by our daughter Emily) and Cinnamon (from Penzy’s, a gift from Rosemary). I also snipped some fresh oregano from our windowsill plant that I’d started from cuttings from my friend Paula. Then I got to work.
Consulting a few recipes around the web, I decided I’d precook the peppers, as I did not want them crunchy and did not want to overcook the already cooked meat filling. Baking them wrapped in foil would have been a great option, but I currently have an oven issue (no gas). The counter top oven I’m using is completely unpredictable, and I did not want to be unwrapping and testing the peppers every 5 minutes, so I parboiled them, then let them sit out to cool. Next, I prepared the meat, corn and rice stuffing mixture, adding and adjusting the flavorings as I went.
Tasting the final spiced mixture just before stuffing the peppers, it seemed like something was missing – it needed more umami. How about some fish sauce? After all, fish sauce is a whole thing in Spain, where scientists have reproduced an ancient Roman fish sauce using a recipe found in the ruins of Pompeii. They call it Flor de Garum, and it is said to supercharge dishes with umami. I didn’t have any Flor de Garum, but I did have Red Boat Fish Sauce, which is purported to be the next best thing. So I boldly grabbed the Red Boat from the fridge and added about a tsp to the mix. It worked!
I stuffed the peppers, topped them with some grated cheddar (Manchego would be more authentic, and next time I will try that instead), baked them and served them topped with a little sour cream. They were delicious!
I now present you with a new recipe I call Spanish Stuffed Peppers. Inspired by Rosemary’s taco stuffed peppers, enhanced with herbs and spices from Emily, Annette, Rosemary and Paula, and umami-ized by yours truly. Enjoy!
Spanish Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 6 bell peppers, of assorted colors
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1 cup corn previously cooked or raw
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 large stalk celery, diced
- 1 large garlic clove, diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup sofrito (can substitute diced tomatoes)
- 2 tsp minced fresh oregano leaves (or 1 /2 tsp dried)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (Pimento de la vera if available)
- 1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder (can substitute chili powder)
- 1 tsp fish sauce (Flor de garum if you're lucky enough to have it. If not, Red boat brand if available)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Manchego cheese would be a good alternative option
- sour cream (for serving)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cup tops off peppers and clean out seeds and ribs using paring knife. Dice the tops and set aside. Place bottoms in a boiling water, filling them with water to prevent floating. Simmer 5-10 minutes or till just tender. Drain and cool.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute onions, celery and diced pepper tops over medium high heat till softened, about 5 mins. Add garlic and saute another minute or so, being careful not to brown the garlic. Add the ground meat and continue cooking till just browned. Add sofrito and spices and fish sauce, cook another minute or so to blend the flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning, then stir in rice and corn.
- Fill peppers with meat/corn/rice mixture and arrange in a lightly oiled baking dish. Top with grated cheese. Place any extra filling around peppers. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or till tops are melted and lightly browned.
