I’m eating gulaš¹ today but won’t be writing about that.

My dad does most of the cooking at home. He used to have his own restaurant, and has always enjoyed making food, and he insists I should take better advantage of his “free lessons.” He would make punjene paprike, or stuffed peppers, pretty often when we were younger, and after what feels like a few years without them, he made the dish for us again recently. It’s relatively traditional Croatian.

You start with some cooked rice, ground meat, and (here, at least) bell peppers. They’re usually made with beef, but this time we used chicken. Cut open the peppers and clean out the seeds, and mix together the meat and rice with finely chopped onion and garlic. Season to taste.

Then stuff the peppers. If you have cabbage, now’s also the time to cut and wash some leaves, and roll them up into sarma. Make sure you cut off the center stems so that they’re easier to roll.

We had some sauce that he’d prepared earlier. (Olive oil, sautéed onions, sliced garlic; tomato paste or whole peeled tomatoes; Vegeta, etc.; and water or broth. My parents usually make huge pots of it at a time, like they do with chicken broth, and then store it in tall plastic containers in the freezer.) Place the stuffed cabbage along the bottom of a saucepan, and then the peppers. Cover them with more sautéed onions before putting their tops back on. Fill up the pan with tomato sauce and let it all simmer.

Not having had stuffed peppers for a while, getting to make them with my dad brought forth some memories. And hopefully some day in the far-off future, I’ll be making them on my own.

— Lora

¹ Also relatively traditional, gulaš is a meat and vegetable stew, often served over potatoes or palenta. Also delicious.