Hungarian Stuffed Peppers
By: Helen Pitlick
Published: Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - 10:59pm

Ingredients




1 medium onion
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2/3 cup long-grain rice, rinsed and drained
1 slices stale challah or white bread
1/2 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
4 or 5 green bell peppers
2 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Preparation

1 Slice half the onion and put it in a stew pan. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, bay leaf and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Boil rice in a saucepan with two cups boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Soak bread in cold water and squeeze dry. Put in a bowl. 2 Coarsely grate remaining onion half and add to bowl. Add beef, parsley, paprika, one-half teaspoon salt and one-quarter to one-half teaspoon pepper and mix well. Add rice and mix again. Cut a slice off top (stem end) of each pepper. Reserve slice; remove stem, core and seeds from each pepper. Spoon stuffing into whole peppers and cover with reserved slices. 3 Stand them up in tomato sauce. Cover and simmer, adding boiling water from time to time if sauce becomes too thick. Cook 45 minutes to one hour, or until peppers are very tender. Gently remove peppers. Discard bay leaf. If the sauce is too thin, cook it, uncovered, over medium-high heat, stirring often, until thickened. Add sugar and simmer for one minute. Add lemon juice. Adjust seasoning. Serve peppers hot, with sauce.