Hungarian Stuffed Green Peppers

This recipe is one where the use of a Microplane Medium Ribbon Grater shines. It allows you to grate the onion back and forth so the onion and its juice goes right into the meat mixture. You have the flavor of onion without little perceptible pieces of it in the meat. I also do this when I make meatballs.

I use a regular rasp Microplane to grate the garlic. In this recipe, it MUST be grated, not minced. This also works well for meatballs.

Left is a Microplane Medium Ribbon; Right is a Microplane Rasp

Hungarian Stuffed Green Peppers
Adapted from The Hungarian Cookbook by Susan Derecskey

6 green bell peppers
Salt
1/4 cup rice (I use basmati because that's what I always use.)
1 egg, lightly beaten
A pinch of pepper
1 pound chopped meat, either beef or pork (I always use beef.)
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed between your fingers as you add it
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
A whole onion cut in half, peel removed (Cutting it in half makes it easy to grate.)
1 clove of garlic
About 3 cups canned tomato sauce (I use three 8-ounce cans of Muir Glen because that's what I have on hand.)
Steamed or boiled potatoes, for serving

Wash the peppers, cut off the top, and core the inside doing your best not to puncture the bottoms. Parboil them in lots of boiling salted water for 5 minutes. This will soften them and make them less bitter.

Parboil the rice for 10 minutes.

Put the egg and a pinch of pepper in a bowl and beat with a fork. Add the meat, a little salt (no more than 1/2 teaspoon), rice, dried marjoram, and fresh parsley.

Take the onion half and using a Microplane Ribbon Grater, grate half or a quarter (based on the size of the onion) of that into the bowl.

Using a regular rasp Microplane, grate the garlic into the bowl. (Grate the garlic; do not mince it. If you don't have a rasp Microplane grater, leave it out.)

Mix everything lightly with your hands; the less you handle the meat, the better. Put the meat mixture into the peppers. Do not pack it in, and do not fill right to the top of the peppers.

Put the peppers into a baking pan, put the tomato sauce around them, and bake in a 325°F oven for 1 hour.

Serve with steamed (what I use) or boiled potatoes.

Cucumber and sour cream salad goes well with this dish.