Turkish Stuffed Peppers
Servings
4
Servings
4
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 400°F.
  2. Cut the peppers in half length-wise and lay them on their sides in a baking dish. Four halves fit nicely into an 8×8 glass dish.
  3. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil over moderate heat.
  4. Add the ground meat, breaking it up. Brown the meat, stirring well until cooked through. and set it aside.
  5. Pour off the accumulated fat, and discard
  6. In the same skillet, heat another Tablespoon of oil, and saute the onions and garlic.
  7. Season liberally with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the onions become translucent.
  8. Add the coriander, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and allspice; stir well, and cook not quite a minute, just until the fragrance blooms.
  9. Add the chopped cashews, dried fruits, and 1/4 cup of the mint.
  10. Cook about 5 more minutes, until very fragrant.
  11. Add the browned meat back to the pan and heat until warm and well combined.
  12. Add mint, lemon juice and Aleppo pepper, and taste for seasoning.
  13. Divide the mixture among the 4 pepper halves, pressing down on the stuffing to pack it well.
  14. Pour about half of the tomato sauce over the stuffed peppers.
  15. Add 1/2 cup water to the remaining tomato sauce, and pour that into the bottom of the pan.
  16. Bake, uncovered, about 45 minutes.
  17. While the peppers cook, if the pan seems to be drying out, simply add a little more water to the bottom.
  18. Serve immediately drizzling with olive oil and lemon juice, and garnish with more fresh mint leaves.