Pilpel Memula
Tender sweet peppers are packed with a fragrant mixture of beef, rice, onion, and warm spices, then baked gently in a bright tomato sauce. The result is comforting and richly savoury, with soft peppers, juicy filling, and a sauce made for spooning over every bite.
Ingredients
For the peppers and filling
- 2 large (about 500 g total)red bell peppers
- 250 gminced beef
- 70 gshort-grain or medium-grain rice, rinsed
- 120 gonion, finely diced
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 15 gflat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 20 gtomato paste
- 1 tspground allspice
- 1/4 tspground cinnamon
- 1 tspfine salt
- 1/2 tspblack pepper
- 15 mlolive oil
For the tomato sauce
- 15 mlolive oil
- 80 gonion, finely diced
- 2 clovesgarlic, minced
- 400 gcrushed tomatoes
- 250 mlwater
- 20 gtomato paste
- 1/2 tspfine salt
- 1/4 tspblack pepper
- 1 tspsugar
For finishing
- 5 gflat-leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 190C. Slice the tops off the red bell peppers and remove the cores and seeds. Finely dice the pepper tops, discarding any tough stem pieces, and reserve them for the filling.
- 2
Heat a wide frying pan over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and the diced pepper tops and cook for 1 minute more; softening the vegetables now prevents the filling from staying crunchy.
- 3
Add the minced beef and cook, breaking it up well, for 4-5 minutes until it loses its raw colour. Stir in the tomato paste, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, fine salt, and black pepper; cook for 1 minute so the spices bloom and the tomato paste darkens slightly.
- 4
Stir in the rinsed rice and flat-leaf parsley, then remove from the heat. The rice should be only coated and mixed through, not cooked at this stage; it will finish cooking inside the peppers and sauce.
- 5
Fill the hollowed peppers loosely with the beef and rice mixture, leaving about 1 cm space at the top because the rice will expand as it cooks.
- 6
In an oven-safe saucepan or baking dish that fits the peppers snugly, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the crushed tomatoes, water, tomato paste, fine salt, black pepper, and sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes until lightly thickened.
- 7
Nestle the stuffed peppers upright in the sauce. Spoon a little sauce over the tops, cover tightly with a lid or foil, and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes more. The peppers are done when they are tender, the filling is hot throughout, and the rice is fully cooked with no chalky centre.
- 8
Rest for 5 minutes before serving so the filling settles and the sauce thickens slightly. Spoon plenty of sauce around the peppers and finish with chopped parsley.
Nutrition per serving
Notes
- •If your peppers are unstable, trim a very thin slice from the bottoms without cutting through so they stand upright.
- •Short- or medium-grain rice gives a softer, more traditional texture than long-grain rice.
- •For deeper flavour, you can replace 50 ml of the water in the sauce with beef stock, but the dish is fully balanced as written.
- •Serve with challah, plain yogurt, or a simple cucumber salad.
Background
Stuffed vegetables are deeply rooted in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking traditions, and stuffed peppers are a familiar home-style dish in Israeli kitchens. Israeli versions often reflect a blend of Sephardi, Mizrahi, Balkan, and broader Levantine influences, with rice, tomato, and warm spices such as allspice and cinnamon being especially common.
Love this recipe?
Get personalised AI-curated recipes, meal plans and smart shopping lists — free.
Download Gourmate – Free