Zeytinyagli Biber Dolmasi (Olive Oil Stuffed Peppers)

About This Recipe

Zeytinyagli dolma belongs to a whole category of Turkish 'olive oil dishes,' vegetable preparations cooked in olive oil and served at room temperature rather than hot, a style that developed to make the most of the Aegean coast's abundant olive groves. Small sweet peppers are hollowed and stuffed with a rice filling seasoned with currants, pine nuts, allspice and plenty of fresh herbs, then packed tightly into a pot and simmered slowly in olive oil and water until the rice is tender and the peppers have softened completely. Served chilled or at room temperature with a squeeze of lemon, these dolma are meant to sit on a meze table alongside other cold starters, their sweet-savory filling improving with a day or two in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 12small sweet peppers
• 1 cupshort-grain rice(rinsed)
• 1onion(finely diced)
• 1/4 cupolive oil(plus more for cooking)
• 3 tbspcurrants
• 3 tbsppine nuts
• 1/2 tspground allspice
• 1/4 tspground cinnamon
• 1/2 cupchopped dill
• 1/4 cupchopped parsley
• 1 tspsugar
• 1.5 tspsalt
• 1.5 cupswater
• 1lemon(for serving)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the peppers

   Cut the tops off the peppers and reserve, then remove the seeds and membranes, keeping the peppers whole.

2. 2

   Make the filling

   Saute onion in olive oil until soft, then stir in rice, currants, pine nuts, allspice, cinnamon, sugar and half the salt; cook 2 minutes.

3. 3

   Add herbs

   Remove from heat and stir in the dill and parsley.

4. 4

   Stuff the peppers

   Fill each pepper about three-quarters full with the rice mixture (leaving room for the rice to expand) and replace the tops.

5. 5

   Arrange and cook

   Pack the stuffed peppers snugly upright in a pot, drizzle with olive oil, and add water and remaining salt.

6. 6

   Simmer gently

   Place a small plate on top of the peppers to keep them from tipping, cover the pot, and simmer on low heat 35-40 minutes until the rice is tender and peppers are soft.

   Cooking with a weight on top keeps the peppers from toppling and losing their filling.

7. 7

   Cool and serve

   Let the dolma cool in the pot, then refrigerate and serve chilled or at room temperature with lemon wedges.

Variations

• •

  Grape leaves (yaprak dolmasi) use the same filling wrapped instead of stuffed into peppers.

• •

  A version with tomatoes hollowed out instead of peppers is equally common on Turkish meze tables.

• •

  Adding a small amount of tamarind or pomegranate molasses to the filling gives extra tang.

Storage

Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days; these are traditionally served cold or at room temperature, not reheated.

Frequently Asked Questions