Brazilian Stuffed Peppers with Smoky Tomato Rice (Pimentao Recheado)

About This Recipe

Pimentao recheado, or stuffed peppers, is a staple of Brazilian home cooking, usually built around leftover or freshly cooked rice mixed with ground beef or just vegetables, bound with a smoky tomato sauce, and baked under a layer of melted cheese until the pepper softens and the top turns golden. It's the kind of dish grandmothers make on a Sunday and everyone eats reheated on Monday. The key technique is blanching the peppers briefly before stuffing, which softens them just enough that they finish cooking evenly in the oven without turning mushy or staying raw and bitter at the stem. The filling itself is really a smoky tomato rice, cooked down with smoked paprika (pimentao defumado) until it's thick enough to hold its shape when scooped. This version keeps it vegetarian-friendly with the option to add ground beef, and leans on catupiry or mozzarella cheese for the finish, since a bubbling cheese cap is non-negotiable in most Brazilian households making this dish.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4large bell peppers(tops cut off, seeded)
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 1onion(finely chopped)
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 400 gground beef(optional)
• 2 tspsmoked paprika
• 1 can (400g)crushed tomatoes
• 2 cupscooked white rice
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 0.5 tspblack pepper
• 1.5 cupsshredded mozzarella or catupiry cheese
• 0.25 cupparsley(chopped)

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the peppers

   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil peppers 3-4 minutes until just slightly softened, then drain upside down on a towel.

2. 2

   Build the filling base

   Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion 5 minutes until soft, then add garlic and smoked paprika, stirring 1 minute until fragrant.

3. 3

   Brown the beef

   If using, add ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Skip this step for the vegetarian version.

4. 4

   Simmer the tomato rice

   Stir in crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes until thick, then fold in the cooked rice and parsley off the heat.

5. 5

   Stuff and top

   Heat oven to 190C/375F. Stand the peppers upright in a baking dish, fill each with the tomato rice mixture, and top generously with cheese.

6. 6

   Bake until golden

   Bake 25-30 minutes until the peppers are tender when pierced with a knife and the cheese is bubbling and golden in spots.

Variations

• •

  Vegetarian: skip the beef and add a can of drained black beans and corn to the tomato rice for protein.

• •

  Add chopped olives and hard-boiled egg to the filling for a more old-school Brazilian version.

• •

  Use catupiry cheese instead of mozzarella for the traditional creamy, tangy Brazilian topping.

Storage

Refrigerate stuffed peppers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 180C/350F oven for 15 minutes covered with foil, or microwave until the center is hot.

Frequently Asked Questions