Perfect German-style Stuffed Peppers
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 Mins
Cook time: 15 Mins Sauté, 18-28 Mins Under High Pressure
Difficulty: Intermediate
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
See our guide to pressure cooker pantry essentials to find out more about these ingredients, our recommendations, and where to buy them.
Directions
Turn your pressure cooker on to frying mode (“Sauté” on the Instant Pot, “Browning” on the Cook4Me) and wait for it to heat up
Pour the oil into the pot
Add in the speck/bacon and fry, stirring regularly, until the fat starts to render
Add in ½ the onions and all the leek
Add in all the (1 tbsp) bottled minced garlic
Add in a good pinch of seasoned salt, ¼ of the Italian herbs,¼ of the paprika, ¼ of the Old Bay
Cook & “sweat” the ingredients until onion is translucent, stirring frequently – about 5 minutes
Switch your cooker to “keep warm” mode
Make the stuffing:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground/minced pork and beef
Add the fresh minced garlic and remaining ½ of the onion (this is equal to about 1 onion)
Add the remaining herbs and spices, plus a generous pinch or 2 of seasoned salt
Add the 2 eggs
Add the grated carrot
Add the flaked parmesan cheese
Add 1 cup of dry uncooked rice
Spoon ½ the fried speck, onion and leek out of the pressure cooker pot, and add to the stuffing
fold all the ingredients through until mixed evenly; try to avoid making the mixture “mushy” by over-working
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.
Make your sauce:
Return your cooker to Sauté/browning mode
Add the reserved stuffing mix to the remaining speck/bacon, onion and leek.
Add a small pinch of seasoned salt
Add in the (optional) Chilli flakes if you want a spicy variant (that’s not too traditionally Germanic, but then, times have changed!)
Sauté the meat stuffing mixture until it browns
Add in the crushed tomatoes and the tomato pasta sauce
Add the sugar
Add the optional red wine, if you wish - this adds a nice extra dimension to the flavour!
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
Mix thoroughly and bring to a boil
Taste and add in any required seasoning; we often add a bit of extra Italian herb seasoning and old bay at this point
Reserve 2 cups of the sauce
Add your trivet to your pressure cooker’s cooking pot
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.
Pour the reserved sauce over the peppers
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)
Close and seal the pressure cooker lid
Start the pressure cooking cycle.
Meanwhile, cook the 4 cups jasmine rice using your preferred method in line with its instructions
Once the pressure cooker has finished, “Quick release” the steam if your cooker does not do this automatically.
Plate a bed of rice for each pepper
Carefully extract each pepper and place on its bed of rice
Turn pressure cooker on to “Sauté” or “browning” mode, and and bring the contents to a bubble
Mix the sour cream through the sauce to make it creamy
Put your cooker into “Keep Warm” mode
Generously ladle some sauce over each of the peppers and garnish with parmesan cheese flakes
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!
Do you have any twists or favourite adjustments to this recipe? Let is know in the comments below!