Sweet peppers stuffed with a rice, currant and pine nut filling, simmered in olive oil and served cold as a Turkish meze.
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.
Serves 4
Cut the tops off the peppers and reserve, then remove the seeds and membranes, keeping the peppers whole.
Saute onion in olive oil until soft, then stir in rice, currants, pine nuts, allspice, cinnamon, sugar and half the salt; cook 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the dill and parsley.
Fill each pepper about three-quarters full with the rice mixture (leaving room for the rice to expand) and replace the tops.
Pack the stuffed peppers snugly upright in a pot, drizzle with olive oil, and add water and remaining salt.
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.
Let the dolma cool in the pot, then refrigerate and serve chilled or at room temperature with lemon wedges.
Don't overfill the peppers — rice expands as it cooks, and an overstuffed pepper can split open.
Use a heavy pot and pack the peppers tightly upright so they support each other and don't fall over during cooking.
Let the dolma rest a full day in the refrigerator before serving if possible; the flavor deepens noticeably.
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.
Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days; these are traditionally served cold or at room temperature, not reheated.
Zeytinyagli (olive-oil) dishes reflect the culinary traditions of Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, where olive oil replaced butter as the primary cooking fat, giving rise to a whole category of vegetable dishes served cold rather than hot.
Yes, they're traditionally made a day or two ahead and served cold, which makes them ideal for entertaining.
Larger peppers work fine too, just extend the simmering time slightly to ensure the rice fully cooks through.
They were likely overstuffed — leave about a quarter of the pepper's volume empty since the rice expands as it absorbs liquid.
Per serving (200g / 7.1 oz) · 4 servings total
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