Macedonian Stuffed Peppers

Polneti piperki is a North Macedonian dish of bell peppers filled with rice and minced meat, then baked in tomato sauce. The name means stuffed peppers. Stuffed peppers in tomato sauce are cooked across the Balkans, in Turkey and in Greece, so the recipe changes from kitchen to kitchen and no single origin is claimed.

What it really is

Sweet bell peppers are hollowed out and filled with a mixture of minced meat, rice and finely chopped onion, seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. The rice is usually raw and cooks inside the pepper, soaking up juice from the meat and sauce. The peppers are packed close together in a baking dish, covered with tomato sauce, and baked until the filling is cooked through and the peppers are soft. The filling is the heart of the dish, and the sauce keeps it moist.

Minced meat is most often beef, pork or a mix of the two. A version without meat is a different dish and should be named as such on a menu.

How it's served

• Hot, straight from the baking dish, with the sauce spooned over the peppers.
• Whole, usually one or two peppers to a portion, eaten with a fork and spoon.
• With bread to soak up the sauce, and often a plain yogurt or fresh salad beside it, which are separate items.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the filling meat, pork, beef or a mix, and say the peppers are stuffed with rice and baked in tomato sauce.
• The filling has no standard declarable allergen. Ask whether the tomato sauce is thickened with wheat flour, and flag milk or egg if cheese, yogurt or egg is added to the dish.
• State how many peppers come in a portion and whether bread or yogurt is included.
• Say whether the peppers are sweet red or green, since guests often ask.