Punjene Paprike
Peppers stuffed with minced meat and rice, simmered in tomato sauce until tender. Served with mashed potatoes.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 1 h
- total
- 1 h 30 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- easy
Stuffed peppers show up across the Balkans and Central Europe in slightly different forms, and the Croatian version leans on a simple tomato sauce and a mound of mashed potato on the side.
It is an easy, forgiving family dinner, built for using up a glut of garden peppers at the end of summer.
Part of our 20 best Croatian recipes list.
method
Mix the ground meat, rice, onion, garlic, egg, paprika, salt and pepper together thoroughly.
Stuff each pepper with the mixture, leaving a little room at the top for the rice to expand.
Stand the stuffed peppers upright in a wide pot.
Mix the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and bay leaf, and pour around the peppers, adding a little water if needed to come about two-thirds up their sides.
Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 50 to 60 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling is cooked through.
Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until tender, drain, and mash with the butter and warm milk. Season with salt.
Serve the stuffed peppers with their sauce, alongside the mashed potatoes.
chef's tips
- Do not overstuff the peppers. The rice expands as it cooks, and a tightly packed pepper can split open in the pot.
- A small pinch of sugar in the tomato sauce rounds out the acidity, a common trick across the whole region for a tomato-based sauce like this one.
- Choose peppers that can stand upright easily in the pot; a flat bottom makes the whole cooking process far less fiddly.
- These keep and reheat very well, and like most stews, a day in the fridge only helps the flavor settle.