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Perfect German-style Stuffed Peppers

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 Mins

Cook time: 15 Mins Sauté, 18-28 Mins Under High Pressure

Difficulty: Intermediate

Lovely German-style stuffed peppers

Since we are Germanoids, this meal is hands-down one of Troy and Ursula’s favourite wintertime Sunday dinner comfort foods. In fact, Troy considers this to be his signature dish, and has spent many years perfecting it to wow guests at dinner parties, and to impress the occasional 1st or second date to boot. The stuffed peppers are absolutely moreish, and the sauce is a perfect compliment to the meaty goodness of the stuffing, providing a sweet creamy tomato flavour burst of umami bliss.

With the addition of the Tefal Cook4Me to our kitchen, Troy decided to adapt the recipe to Pressure cooking. The result was the best version of Troy’s beloved stuffed peppers yet (and in record time, too!)

 

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 500g (1 lb) minced/ground beef (we get the Organic variety from Aldi)

  • 500g (1 1b) minced/ground pork

  • 3 thick-sliced rashers of speck or bacon (approx ¾ cup, tight packed)

  • 2 medium white onions, peeled and diced

  • 4 Capsicums (bell peppers), washed, cored and seeds removed (cut so they have an open top, forming a cup for the stuffing); we like to use a variety of colours to add visual and flavour interest

  • 1-1½ cups (tight packed) chopped leek

  • 3-4 cloves of fresh minced garlic

  • 1 carrot, washed, peeled and grated

  • 1 400g (16 oz) tin of organic crushed tomatoes

  • 1 500g jar (29 oz) organic tomato, basil and garlic pasta sauce (or similar tomato based sauce)

  • 1 tbsp (bottled) minced garlic - yes that is in addition to the fresh garlic; we get ours from Costco in bulk!

  • 1 tbsp sweet Hungarian style paprika (or more to taste)

  • 2-3 tsp Old Bay (or more to taste)

  • A few generous pinches of seasoned salt

  • 1 tbsp Italian dried herb blend

  • 1 cup chicken stock

  • 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice (for stuffing)

  • 4 cups cooked jasmine rice (for serving)

  • 1 cup sour cream

  • 1 tbsp raw organic sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • ½ cup flaked parmesan cheese, plus a small amount to garnish

  • Optional

  • A slurp of a robust red wine for the sauce

  • Add a modern heat-boost

  • 1-2 tsp Chilli flakes to spice things up

  • Equipment

  • Trivet with approx 1.5 inch clearance to fit into the pressure cooker

  • Large mixing bowl

Ingredients for stuffed peppers and the Cook4Me

See our guide to pressure cooker pantry essentials to find out more about these ingredients, our recommendations, and where to buy them.

 

Directions

  1. Turn your pressure cooker on to frying mode (“Sauté” on the Instant Pot, “Browning” on the Cook4Me) and wait for it to heat up

  2. Pour the oil into the pot

  3. Add in the speck/bacon and fry, stirring regularly, until the fat starts to render

  4. Add in ½ the onions and all the leek

  5. Add in all the (1 tbsp) bottled minced garlic

  6. Add in a good pinch of seasoned salt, ¼ of the Italian herbs,¼ of the paprika, ¼ of the Old Bay

  7. Cook & “sweat” the ingredients until onion is translucent, stirring frequently – about 5 minutes

  8. Switch your cooker to “keep warm” mode

  9. Make the stuffing:

  10. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground/minced pork and beef

  11. Add the fresh minced garlic and remaining ½ of the onion (this is equal to about 1 onion)

  12. Add the remaining herbs and spices, plus a generous pinch or 2 of seasoned salt

  13. Add the 2 eggs

  14. Add the grated carrot

  15. Add the flaked parmesan cheese

  16. Add 1 cup of dry uncooked rice

  17. Spoon ½ the fried speck, onion and leek out of the pressure cooker pot, and add to the stuffing

  18. fold all the ingredients through until mixed evenly; try to avoid making the mixture “mushy” by over-working

  19. Stuff your peppers so that they are firmly (but not too firmly) packed, and ever so slightly overfilled; reserve enough of the stuffing to cover the base of your pressure cooker pot in about ¾ inch of the mix.

  20. Make your sauce:

  21. Return your cooker to Sauté/browning mode

  22. Add the reserved stuffing mix to the remaining speck/bacon, onion and leek.

  23. Add a small pinch of seasoned salt

  24. Add in the (optional) Chilli flakes if you want a spicy variant (that’s not too traditionally Germanic, but then, times have changed!)

  25. Sauté the meat stuffing mixture until it browns

  26. Add in the crushed tomatoes and the tomato pasta sauce

  27. Add the sugar

  28. Add the optional red wine, if you wish - this adds a nice extra dimension to the flavour!

  29. Add in ½ to 1 cup Chicken stock - you want to bring the sauce to a level where it sits just below the trivet platform when inserted in the pot

  30. Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil

  31. Taste and add in any required seasoning; we often add a bit of extra Italian herb seasoning and old bay at this point

  32. Reserve 2 cups of the sauce

  33. Add your trivet to your pressure cooker’s cooking pot

  34. Place your stuffed peppers carefully on the trivet, making sure they are above the liquid level, and below the lid-line when it closes, and not in the way of any protruding parts such as valve guards and pressure pins.

  35. Pour the reserved sauce over the peppers

  36. Select the pressure cooking mode on high pressure (“Manual > Quick cook” on the Cook4Me)- set the cooking cycle to run for 20-28 minutes. (20 will give you firmer peppers - we prefer going all the way to 28 minutes for melt-in your mouth results, although these are less photogenic)

  37. Close and seal the pressure cooker lid

  38. Start the pressure cooking cycle.

  39. Meanwhile, cook the 4 cups jasmine rice using your preferred method in line with its instructions

  40. Once the pressure cooker has finished, “Quick release” the steam if your cooker does not do this automatically.

  41. Plate a bed of rice for each pepper

  42. Carefully extract each pepper and place on its bed of rice

  43. Turn pressure cooker on to “Sauté” or “browning” mode, and and bring the contents to a bubble

  44. Mix the sour cream through the sauce to make it creamy

  45. Put your cooker into “Keep Warm” mode

  46. Generously ladle some sauce over each of the peppers and garnish with parmesan cheese flakes

  47. Serve with some wholemeal bread, robust red wine, and definitely with a gravy boat or 3 of the remaining sauce.

Guten Appetit!

Tip - If there is left-over stuffing mix, bag this and freeze it - the stuffing freezes and thaws well for a faster “build time” at a later date. The stuffing mix also makes nice rissoles. The sauce freezes equally well for later use!

Serving the Stuffed Peppers with a nice drop of Red

Do you have any twists or favourite adjustments to this recipe? Let is know in the comments below!

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