ARIANA'S KITCHEN!!!!

ARDEI UMPLUTI - STUFFED CABBAGE

Hello my lovelies!! I hope you had wonderful Holidays and a great start to 2015!!! 


Today I have for you a WONDERFUL mouthwatering dish that I learned from my amazing mother- Romanian Stuffed Cabbage!!  

Here you go!
5 large bell peppers (any color)

Meat Mixture:

1/2 cup rice

2 cups water

pinch of salt

1.25 lbs ground chicken (or any meat you prefer)
1/2 large onion, grated
1 egg
3 TBS chopped parsley, or to taste
1 TBS tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
pepper, to taste

Tomato Sauce:

5 TBS olive oil (you could use butter)
1/2 onion, chopped fine
2 TBS flour*
7 TBS tomato paste
3 cups water + 1 cup water
salt to taste


Extra:

sour cream
parsley, chopped

Directions: 

1. Cook rice... in a sauce pan, place rice and add water with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to med-low and cook the rice until al-dente (about 7 minutes). Drain and set aside to cool.
2. Grind chicken and run onion through grinder. Alternately, use store-bought ground meat and grate onion(or finely dice) onion. Set aside.
3. Place ground meat and onion in a large bowl. Add egg, tomato paste, cooled rice, parsley, salt and pepper.
4. Mix the meat mixture thoroughly.
5. Cut bell pepper tops and remove core and seeds.
6. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a large pot. 


Make Sauce:

1. Heat saucepan on medium heat, and add oil. Add the diced onion and cook on med-low until onion becomes translucent and soft (6-8 minutes).... stirring every so often.
2. Mix tomato paste and 3 cups water and add to sauteed onions.
3. Cook sauce for an additional 5 minutes... and season with a few pinches of kosher salt.

Assemble and Cook Peppers: 

1. Pour the cooked tomato sauce over the stuffed peppers... making sure to get some sauce over the top of the meat mixture.
2. Place pepper "lids" on top of each pepper and add an additional 1 cup of water to the pot.
3. Bring the  pot up to a boil,  cover with a lid and lower heat to a simmer.
4. Cook for 50-60 minutes... or until peppers have softened and meat is completely cooked through. (you can remove pot lid and place in hot oven for an additional 5- 10 minutes if you prefer)
5.  Serve peppers with sour cream and chopped parsley... and plenty of sauce.

BON APETTIT MIS AMORES!! 

***"Cooking is love made visible "***

SMOOCH SMOOCH,

ARIANA