Yemista, Stuffed Bell Peppers

Yemista is what the Greeks call stuffed peppers. After college I traveled in Greece with some friends and we were blown away by the yemista we ate; the peppers were sweet and soft while the stuffing was hearty. 

Reminiscing about Greece lead me to think about food - because we ate some delicious things over there - which lead me to actually making food. Dangerous yet tasty thought progression on my part. Only hope I did this dish justice. 

Oh, and added bonus, this is super easy to make. 

Yemista, or Stuffed Bell Peppers  

     yields 6 servings

Ingredients

6 bell peppers, any color

olive oil

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

12 oz. minced lamb or beef

1½ tsp cinnamon

1-12 oz. can diced tomatoes, separate & save tomato juice

2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped or flakes

sea salt

pepper

½ cup hot water

2 oz. brown rice

2 oz. pine nuts, lightly roasted

Directions

Cut the tops off the peppers (SAVE them) and de-seed the peppers. If your peppers are very thick boil them in water for 2 minutes to soften.

In a large pan, saute the onion until it becomes golden. Add in your meat and cinnamon. It is going to smell amazing, just fyi. Stir occasionally, making sure your meat is not clumpy and everything is incorporated. 

At the same time, prep your rice and pine nuts. In about 6 oz. of boiling water, cook your brown rice. Once the water comes to a boil, add the rice, stir once, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and stop cooking once all the water has evaporated. 

For the pine nuts, heat in a small skillet over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once they are browning you can remove from heat. Set both the rice and pine nuts aside.

Add tomato juice to meat and let cook for 5 minutes. Meat should be golden brown. Add tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add in the rice and pine nuts. Cook for another 10 minutes.

 

You want your stuffing to look something like this.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and in a baking pan, whatever size will accommodate all the peppers, drizzle olive oil over the pan. Fill your peppers to the rim with the stuffing, capping off each pepper with its respective top. Drizzle the peppers with the hot water. This will help keep them soft while baking.

Bake for 45 minutes, until the tops are beginning to darken but the peppers themselves remain soft.

Let cool slightly and serve warm. And don't forget a glass of red wine or if you're really going with the Greek theme then ouzo might be the most authentic thing you could imbibe after this meal. 

But, word to the wise, ouzo is the nastiest thing I've ever drunk, so maybe don't... ;)