Peppers stuffed with rice (bajoques farcides)
We couldn’t reisist the temptation to present you with one of the most typical dishes from the area in which our olive grove is situated. We’re talking about peppers stuffed with rice. Or, as we say in Valencian in the L’Alcoià area, inland in the north of the province of Alicante, ‘’bajoques farcides’’.
By the way, ‘’bajoques’’ isn’t a translation of peppers either. What they really are are haricot beans. But as a result of the insistence of local parlance, dictionaries have recognized the word ‘’bajoques’’ as peppers.
But I’m sure you’re more interested in how this simple and delicious dish is made. It’s made differently in every home. We’ve chosen to use meat (you can also use tuna):
Ingredients for 4 people
- 4 large red peppers (all the better if they’re of the Lamuyos variety)
- 200 gr rice
- 150 gr minced beef
- Grated tomato
- 1 onion
- 1 clove garlic
- Oregano
- Salt and pepper
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Preparation
- First of all, cook the rice. Be careful to use twice as much water as rice. For four people, two tumblerfuls of rice and four of water. When the water is boiling, add the rice and salt. Leave to cook until the water is absorbed.
- While the rice is cooking, we can prepare the peppers. Remove the top but save it because you’re going to need it. Using your hand or a knife, remove the seeds. Wash the peppers in abundant water.
- Put the finely chopped onion and garlic and the extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan. Five minutes should be long enough.
- Now it’s time to add the minced beef. Make certain it’s finely minced and mix it with the onion and garlic.
- After five minutes, add the tomato and a bit of oregano. The oregano is optional. Allow to cook for 5 more minutes.
- Once everything is cooked, mix all of the ingredients together: the rice, the vegetables …
- Now it’s the most crucial moment. Fill the peppers with the mixture of rice and vegetables. You have to fill the peppers well and don’t be frightened to flatten the rice. Put the top that you removed at the beginning back on. Make certain that it’s solid. And we’re almost ready. The only thing that’s left is to heat the oven to 200ºC and when it’s hot, put the peppers, or our bajoques farcides, in for 20 minutes.
Perhaps you’re asking the question: and do you also eat the pepper? Well, the answer is yes. Many people love the mixture of pepper and rice.
As we were saying, there are variations to peppers stuffed with rice such as using tuna instead of mince. What is true is that we’re talking about a dish which is typical in Alcoy and if you visit this town, you’re sure to find it in more than one restaurant.
It’s a very simple dish to make and delicious.