16-Minutes to Stuffed Peppers! Generations away from my Hungarian Roots!

I'm part Hungarian.  This part of my ancestry has always intrigued me since I've never been to Hungary and yet LOVE  some of the foods from that part of the world.  I grew up eating goulash, steamed cabbage, and stuffed peppers.  (The peppers may be of Turkish origin, but apparently since they contain Paprika, they are categorized as Hungarian)  My Great Grandfather came to this country, knowing he'd never see his family again, and Americanized our name when entering at Ellis Island. My father (the Hungarian part of me) also told stories of his Grandmother making homemade noodles, which I have learned to do, but that is for another post.  

Finished!! Ready to Serve!

So let's just connect the past to the present here quickly!  I love stuffed peppers and needed to find a way to fit them into our busy family schedule. Our traditional recipe, updated, easily converts to a pressure cooker recipe. 

MARKET LIST:

5 Fresh, Green Peppers 

1 Cup uncooked Rice

1/1/2 Cup Water

Tomato Sauce (14-16 oz.)

1/4 lb. Ground Sausage (or meat of choice) 

Himalayan Salt, Multi-colored Peppercorn Blend, & Paprika (try smoked paprika) and a dash of Cayenne Pepper

EQUIPMENT:  You will need a 6-qt. pressure cooker in order to stay on the 16 minute time frame.   I found it helpful to use a silicone trivet inside the bottom of the pot. You also need simple kitchen tools-  knife, cutting board, tongs, and spoon.

DIRECTIONS:    Place rice in to pressure cooker pan, cover with all the water.  Secure the pressure cooker lid, and close the pressure valve lever.  Cook for 6 minutes on the 'Rice' feature on the pressure cooker control panel.  After the cooker timer 'beeps', release the valve lever to release any steam. Remove lid.

IN THE MEANTIME: While the rice is cooking, brown the sausage on the stovetop, or in a second pressure cooker on the 'saute' or 'brown' feature.   Stir in either bottled processed tomato sauce, or canned.

ADD:  Salt and Pepper, best dispensed through a grinder, and the Paprika and Cayenne. (Just a dash)

ALSO:  Wash the peppers, slice the stem end of each, exposing the inside of the pepper.  Scrape out the seeds and 'clean up' the insides of the peppers.. see below.  No need to blanch or tenderize the peppers before cooking with the pressure cooker method.

Clean Green 'Bell' Peppers -remove all seeds

SPOON the rice mixture into each pepper up to the brim, pressing down the mixture to fill each pepper. Place the peppers on a trivet in the bottom of the pressure cooker, secure the lid, closing the pressure valve. Set the timer on High Pressure for 10 minutes.  

TO SERVE:  Once the timer 'beeps', release the valve, letting of steam, open the lid, carefully remove the peppers, using tongs, and place in a serving dish.  Serve hot.    

-Enjoy!

*These make great leftovers too!  Can be heated up in a steamer, or microwave the next day!