Moroccan Stuffed Peppers with Spiced Rice and Raisins

About This Recipe

This stuffed pepper dish draws on Morocco's love of warm spices and dried fruit in savory cooking, filling hollowed bell peppers with a mixture of rice, ground beef, raisins and a blend of cumin, cinnamon and paprika. The peppers are par-cooked briefly before stuffing so they soften without collapsing, then baked upright in a light tomato sauce that both flavors the peppers and keeps them from drying out in the oven. The raisins plump as they bake, adding small bursts of sweetness against the savory rice and meat, a distinctly Moroccan touch that sets this apart from more common Mediterranean stuffed pepper recipes.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 6bell peppers
• 1 cuplong-grain rice(parboiled 10 minutes and drained)
• 300 gground beef
• 1onion(diced)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1/2 tspcinnamon
• 1/2 tsppaprika
• 1/3 cupraisins
• 1.5 tspsalt
• 2 tbspolive oil
• 2 cupscrushed tomatoes(for sauce)
• 1 cupwater(for sauce)
• 2 tbspchopped cilantro(for garnish)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the peppers

   Cut the tops off the peppers, remove seeds and membranes, and blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes; drain.

2. 2

   Make the filling

   Cook onion in olive oil until soft, add garlic, ground beef, cumin, cinnamon and paprika, cooking until the beef is browned.

3. 3

   Combine

   Stir the parboiled rice, raisins and salt into the beef mixture.

4. 4

   Stuff the peppers

   Fill each pepper with the rice and beef mixture, packing gently.

5. 5

   Make the sauce

   Whisk crushed tomatoes with water and a pinch of salt.

6. 6

   Bake

   Arrange the stuffed peppers upright in a baking dish, pour the tomato sauce around them, cover with foil, and bake at 190C/375F for 35-40 minutes until the peppers are tender.

   Basting the peppers with the sauce halfway through keeps the tops from drying out.

7. 7

   Serve

   Serve hot, spooning the tomato sauce over each pepper and garnishing with cilantro.

Variations

• •

  A vegetarian version replaces beef with chickpeas or lentils for the same warmly spiced filling.

• •

  Ground lamb can replace beef for a richer, slightly gamier flavor.

• •

  Adding toasted almonds to the filling gives extra crunch and a more festive presentation.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days in an airtight container; reheat covered in a 180C/350F oven with a splash of water or extra sauce to keep the peppers moist.

Frequently Asked Questions