Stuffed Peppers Recipe (Biber Dolması)

Written by: Cooks of Heraclea

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients: 22

Turkish stuffed peppers (biber dolması) filled with herbed rice and baked in tomato sauce

This is the dish that makes a Turkish kitchen smell like Sunday. Thin-skinned green peppers packed with rice we work through by hand with onion, garlic, tomato, dill, and dried mint — every grain slicked with olive oil and lemon. A brick-red sauce of tomato paste and biber salçası goes over the top, and the whole pot bakes until the peppers slump and sweeten. Serve them warm or at room temperature, always with a dollop of thick yogurt. Make extra — they're even better the next day.

Ingredients:

8 small Cubanelle green peppers (avoid thick-skinned bell peppers — they cook slower and absorb less flavor)

Filling:

8 tablespoons short-grain Baldo rice (about 1 tablespoon per pepper)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1½ tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon dried mint
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons salt
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup Heraclea Everyday EVOO
3–4 cherry tomatoes, halved (to top the stuffed peppers as lids)
3–4 reserved pepper tops (from the green peppers, to use as lids)

Sauce:

2 tablespoons Heraclea Everyday EVOO
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon Turkish red pepper paste (biber salçası)
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 cup boiling water

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Slice off the tops of the peppers to create lids. Carefully remove the seeds and inner membranes, then set the tops aside — they'll be used as lids after stuffing.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, dill, dried mint, black pepper, paprika, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil. Mix thoroughly until everything is well incorporated and evenly coated.
Stuff each pepper with 1–2 tablespoons of the filling, pressing it down gently with your thumb. Leave a little space at the top to allow the rice to expand as it cooks. Arrange the stuffed peppers upright in a snug-fitting ovenproof pot or baking dish. Top each with a halved cherry tomato or one of the reserved pepper tops to act as a lid.
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, tomato paste, red pepper paste, dried mint, dried dill, and 1 cup boiling water until the pastes are fully dissolved. Pour the sauce evenly over the stuffed peppers.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for another 15–20 minutes, or until the peppers are tender and lightly browned.
Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with fresh parsley and a dollop of thick strained yogurt on the side.