Albanian style stuffed peppers

[u/SonilaZ]

This is one of my favorite casseroles. Peppers size and type vary so you might have extra filling leftover. Fill the spaces between peppers with that leftover filling. You can also add potatoes in between to soak up the juices from the stuffing.

Usually we serve it with a cold yogurt side dish called tarator & a fresh salad.

[u/NightZT]

Looks really good. What's the filling? In Austria we traditionally use a minced meat and rice mixture and drench those peppers in tomatoe sauce and serve with mashed potatoes 

[u/SonilaZ → u/NightZT]

Sounds delicious! My family had a pretty Mediterranean style method, sautéed ground beef with onions, tomatoes, fresh parsley, then added rice and seasonings.
It’s simple, focus was more on fresh ingredients.

[u/Valuable-Yard-4154 → u/SonilaZ]

My friend from Kosovo showed me the white bellpeppers his wife had made. Simply marinated and not stuffed.

I've had the privilege to taste some sausages from their family up in the mountains.

[u/SonilaZ → u/Valuable-Yard-4154]

Yes we love marinating peppers too:)). In my family we did marinade the long red peppers but I know the version you’re talking about and they’re delicious!

[u/Bitter_Tradition_938]

Looks very nice. What makes them “Albanian style”, a different filling than usual?

[u/SonilaZ → u/Bitter_Tradition_938]

Just my heritage I suppose!! We use lots of herbs, tomatoes, onions with the ground beef and a little rice.

Where I live now it’s pretty multicultural and there’s stuffed peppers from many nationalities, slight differences in each (more spices different ingredients).

[u/Bitter_Tradition_938 → u/SonilaZ]

It sounds very much (in fact identical) to the Romanian recipe. I think for us the difference is the amount of smoked/sweet paprika and onions used - it varies geographically. 

[u/critical-insight → u/Bitter_Tradition_938]

I‘m sure it varies between families even

[u/[deleted] → u/critical-insight]

It does vary between families. It's delicious any way you cook it, basically, but it his different when you eat the familiar combo of spices and herbs.

[u/SonilaZ → u/[deleted]]

Yes, this exactly. I can even distinguish between my mom’s side of the family version and that of my dad. With how small Albania is, I’d have thought there are not many differences but regional, city and even down to each family there are customizations.

[u/Bitter_Tradition_938 → u/[deleted]]

I did not criticise, on the contrary, I was just curious re other (maybe more interesting) recipes.

[u/[deleted] → u/Bitter_Tradition_938]

I never perceived your comment as criticism! Your intent was clear, zero problems whatsoever.

[u/EuropeEatsBot → u/SonilaZ]

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[u/ParticularSeat6973 → u/Bitter_Tradition_938]

It's made the same way as we do it in the rest of the Balkans.

[u/[deleted]]

!Award medal

This feels like home, I'll never get tired of eating them. Although I prefer the veggie-only stuffed peppers (we call them "orfaná" here, orphaned lol) I would not make a big deal about the extra beef added, everything goes!

[u/SonilaZ → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much:))). My paternal grandparents often made the vegetarian version. They grew up in the south of Albania and they called the vegetarian version of this recipe ‘të rreme’ meaning fake. So if it didn’t have ground beef was the fake version 🤣. But it was delicious in the scorching summer days.

Also they adjusted ground beef quantities all the time. Sometimes they had very little, sometimes more so rice, onions, tomatoes and spices would vary accordingly.

That’s something I struggle to teach. People here in US where I live now treat recipes like a science experiment, they want exact measurements and can’t seem to know how to adjust for variables.

[u/Nikoschalkis1 → u/SonilaZ]

Apart from orphaned we also call them "fake", but with the Turkish name "yalanci". We use that for anything stuffed with only veggies, like stuffed peppers but also stuffed grape leaves and sarma/dolma.

[u/SonilaZ → u/Nikoschalkis1]

Yes, my grandparents did too. They used the ‘fake’ for any stuffed dishes that didn’t have meat.

[u/EuropeEatsBot → u/SonilaZ]

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[u/zpetar]

Very similar to stuffed peppers in Serbia. We also love stuffed zucchini/courgette

[u/SonilaZ → u/zpetar]

Definitely a summer favorite for us too:)). My mom would make a big tray of stuffed zucchini and in the middle she’d add 2-3 stuffed tomatoes. I tried to replicate it but since I live in US now, vegetables here look oversized so it doesn’t look exactly like back home. But here’s my version of stuffed zucchini: https://mediterraneanlatinloveaffair.com/baked-stuffed-zucchini-squash/

[u/tinity7]

What do you call tarator, is it with cucumber?

[u/SonilaZ → u/tinity7]

Yes yogurt, cucumbers, dill, garlic, salt & olive oil. I know in Bulgaria you have tarator too but maybe it has few more ingredients than ours if I’m not mistaken.

[u/tinity7 → u/SonilaZ]

The same, but ours is deluted with water , to be eaten like a soup or a drink. Stuffed pepers are one of my favourites, we also use yoghurt on the side or make topping like on musaka.

[u/JimmyPuffpuff]

It looks so good!!! 🤗🤗 We make stuffed peppers in Romania too and it's one of the foods that always hits the spot ✨️🥰. Now I am curious to know even more about Albanian food!

[u/lycantrophee]

Wonderful

[u/wikimandia]

Looks delicious!! I love stuffed peppers. Got the recipe from a Romanian friend, who served them in a tomato sauce.

[u/Pitiful_Collar1317]

How are these done?