Greek-style Stuffed Bell Peppers

We are a big fan of stuffed bell peppers over in our house. I've made Tex-mex stuffed peppers, Italian stuffed peppers, Philly cheese-steak stuffed peppers, and random leftover stuffed peppers. I found this recipe for Greek stuffed peppers early on in my Pinterest years, but it got buried at the bottom of my 100+ recipe dinner board. This weekend I finally pulled it out and dusted it off, and boy was it tasty.
The list of ingredients didn't seem like anything special to me, but I gave it a shot as written anyways. I did sub in ground lamb for ground beef since that's what I had in my freezer and it seemed more Greek that way. I was really amazed though at how well these simple ingredients came together to make an extraordinary dish.

Greek-Style Stuffed Bell Peppers
Serves 4-8 depending on how hungry they are

Ingredients
1 lb ground lamb
1 chopped onion
2 diced cloves of garlic
olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 TB dried oregano
1 8 oz can tomato sauce, divided
1/2 cup rice (I used arborio, but any short-grain rice should work)
2 potatoes4-5 bell peppers
feta

What to Do

Cook the diced onions and garlic in a skillet over medium heat with a few TB of olive oil, until onions are tender and translucent. Then add the meat and cook well. Season with fresh parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Add half of the can of tomato sauce and the rice. Let simmer for a few minutes and then set aside (the rice will not be cooked yet). 

Preheat the oven to 375. While it is heating up, cut the tops off of the bell peppers and remove the seeds from the center. Stand them upright in an oven-safe dish (I used a 5 qt dutch oven). Fill the peppers with the meat and rice mixture and then set the tops of peppers back on. Pour the rest of the can of tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan, along with a can full of water and a little olive oil. 

Slice the potatoes into wedges and put them in the pan too, filling in the cracks around the peppers. Throw a little extra salt on them. 

Bake in the oven for at least an hour, until the rice is done. I cooked mine for 1 hr 15 minutes without a lid and the rice wasn't done yet, so I threw the lid on and let it cook for another 20 minutes. You might be able to get it cooked faster if you leave the lid on the whole time. 

Top the peppers with feta and enjoy! I only needed to eat half of one to feel full, but if you have hungry family members they could probably eat a whole one.

Tortillas Españolas

Tonight I made tortillas for dinner. Just not the Mexican kind.

There's another kind of tortilla? You say.

Yes, there is. And it is the tastiest kind. In Spain, if you order a tortilla at a restaurant, you will not be served a very flat piece of bread. You would be served a slice of something akin to a potato and egg quiche, but without the pie crust. I discovered these while visiting Spain, and over the course of the two months I spent there, I tried many varieties of this Spanish staple. The standard tortillas with potatoes, onions, and egg were always delicious, but I also had ones with jamón and others that were made with zucchini instead of potato. And I was always excited when they were served with a slice of manchego cheese on top.

Back in America, I tried to make them myself, but I had alot of trouble for a while. In Spain, they have somehow mastered the art of flipping a potato and egg mixture like a pancake. Every time I tried it though, I ended up with a scrambled eggs and potato mixture. Tasty, but not quite what I was going for.

Finally, I had a revelation while watching Seth cook a frittata. What if I didn't flip the tortilla to cook the other side, but put it under the broiler instead? While not exactly the traditional Spanish method, it yields very similar results. And it's so much easier and foolproof. (Well, almost. Just don't be like me and accidentally stick the skillet under the broiler with a rubber grip still on the handle. Your house will smell like burning plastic for hours.)

Tortilla Española (Spanish Tortilla)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, cubed (or frozen cubed potatoes)

1/2 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

4 eggs

1 tsp paprika

salt and pepper

manchego cheese (optional)

Instructions:

Start by cooking the potatoes, onions, and garlic in a skillet over medium heat. You will need to add a little oil or butter in, and stir them frequently so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. When the potatoes are almost completely cooked through, remove from the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk four eggs with paprika, salt, and pepper. Now you can either pour this into the pan with the potatoes, or pour the potatoes into the bowl. Either way, mix everything up together. Put the skillet with the egg/potato mixture back on the stove on medium/low heat. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the bottom starts to brown. You can check this by sliding a spatula down the side and lifting up the edge slightly. 

When the bottom seems to be well cooked, put the skillet into the oven (make sure you are using an oven-safe skillet!). Turn the broiler on high for 5 minutes. The tortilla should be a nice golden brown color on top when you take it out.

Slice into wedges and serve. Top with manchego cheese if you want them to be especially delicious.