Dried Pepper Stuffed With Beans

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Bulgarian food, which I’m guessing is most of you, what you may not know is that the food we cook usually depends on the season we are in. For example, during the summer, we eat more soups and vegetables because summer is the season for most vegetables. In the winter, we tend to eat more meats, beans, and potatoes. Because most people in Bulgaria have gardens and/or farms, they eat according to what they have from their harvest that season. Although there are supermarkets, foods not in season are often very expensive.

You may be wondering what this has to do with anything, but as we approach winter, the winter food begins to make an appearance. One the most common ingredients used in meals in the winter time are dried peppers. Yes, dried peppers. During the summer, the peppers are gathered and dried during the fall so that they can be eaten during the winter. Being that my grandmother always sends us dried peppers in the mail, one of my favorite foods is dried peppers stuffed with beans. Not only is it delicious, but it signals winter time and winter means Christmas. So in the spirit of changing seasons and the recently delivered dried peppers to my house, let’s try making the recipe!

The recipe that I will be following is pretty standard, and can be found here.

** This recipe was retrieved from a Bulgarian website, so I think that you might have a tough time reading it unless you translate the page using Google.**

This is what they should turn out like:

Recipe: 

Ingredients:

• 100 grams dried peppers (that’s about 3.5 oz)

• 1 cup beans
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon red pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt and pepper
• 50 mL oil (1.7 fluid oz)
• some dried mint
• 50 grams flour (that’s about 1.7 oz)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit 
2. Boil the beans until fully cooked
3. Soak the dried peppers in hot water for 10-15 minutes so that they become soft and easier to work with
4. Saute the onion until it changes color. Then, add the red pepper
5. After a minute, add the beans, salt and pepper, and mint to the pan with the onion
6. Once this is done, use the mixture to fill the dried peppers
7. Once the pepper is filled, flip it over and dip the top of the pepper into the flour to make sure that the beans will not spill out of the pepper when cooking
8. Put the filled peppers in a pan that has been slightly oiled
9. Cook in the oven for around half an hour

Final Product:

Ratings and Thoughts:

Ratings:

Complexity (1 being easy/5 being hard): ♥

Time (1 being fast/5 being time consuming): ♥♥♥

Taste (1 being the worst/5 being the best): ♥♥♥♥♥

Would Recommend (1 being a hard no/5 being totally): ♥♥♥♥♥

Thoughts:

This recipe isn’t too difficult, however, I do know that getting your hands on some dried peppers might pose a little bit of a problem. If you do manage to somehow get some dried peppers, I’d highly recommend trying this recipe. Everyone has heard of stuffed peppers, but not many people realize that the peppers can be dried, too. This meal, compared to the others does take more time because you have to wait for the beans to cook, the peppers to soak, fill the peppers, and then let them cook. For that reason, I gave it three stars for time. Although it may not be the most efficient thing to make, it does deserve a try- especially, if you’re curious. Hope you enjoy!