Gefülllte Paprikaschoten
(Stuffed Bell Peppers)

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground meat
I use a combination of ground beef, ground pork and ground veal.
2 cups chopped onion (Spanish or white)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup raw rice
Spice Mix
4 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons ground caraway seed (optional)
4 teaspoons dried marjoram or oregano leaves
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper

8 Bell peppers any colors
2 large eggs

Sauce:
2 cups chopped onion, small dice
1 heaping tablespoon fresh chopped garlic
1 jar of basic Italian pasta sauce (may substitute tomato sauce)
1 can of whole tomatoes, preferebly Italian pear tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato paste

* may substitute 1 and 1/2 cups cooked rice.

Filling:

1. Gather your ingredients together. I roughly used the same amount of ground meat (Hackfleisch) from each of the different varieties.

2. Close up of the different meats in the mixing bowl. You can skip the next step of cooking the onions, garlic and spices but it does increase the flavor, the onions turn sweet and the garlic and spices open up and release their goodness. You will be able to smell their great aroma.

3. I put the onions and garlic in at the same time in the pan but keep them seperate. I like the garlic to hit the high heat of the oil by itself while I stir it around to keep it from burning. Then add 1/2 the spice mix

4. Cook stiring constantly till the onions have softened and lightly brown. Let cool while you cut the peppers.

5. Cut the top off the pepper and a little slice off the bottom to level out the pepper so it sits flat. Then take out the seeds.

6. Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture
You can do this up ahead of time. Not shown is the other 3 peppers that wouldn't fit in the dish. I baked those off for a do ahead meal. Also instead of stuffing the peppers with the filling you can make meatballs or meatloaf out of the remaining filling.

Sauce:

7. Gather your ingredients to make the sauce, chop the onions, and garlic.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

8. Add the crushed up tomatoes and the pasta sauce and tomato paste and simmer for a few minutes. You can do this while you are filling the peppers.

9.Ladle the sauce over the peppers, cover and bake for 1 hr at 325 degrees.

an option is to cook it at 250 degrees for 2 hours. I have been experimenting with this after reading about the benefits of cooking at a lower temperature for a longer period.

10. Serve the Gefullte Paprikaschoten with a salad or sauteed green beans for a complete meal.
These peppers freeze well.