Stuffing food inside of food is one of the greatest inventions out there (though I draw the line at a Turducken. That shit might kill you.) My grandmother was pretty adept at this, though her stuffed dish of choice was stuffed cabbage, which is not the highest on my love list. Though growing up, stuffed peppers did pop up every so often, but I don’t think I really appreciated them as much as I do now. Now that I actually embrace vegetables. 🙂 And that I can find Macedonia on a map. A lot has changed since the early 1990s…

I decided to lighten this up for a weeknight meal, opting for ground turkey for the filling along with couscous, onions and paprika. The end result was pretty mild in flavor but the passata sauce I made to pour over it took this dish up a notch in the spicy department…though that might have been because the top of my red pepper flakes container was loose and I probably put 4x of the amount in then the recipe called for! 🙂 I also decided to add a little feta.

This is one of those dishes that I imagine many European countries in the same region as Macedonia has some sort of version of. I may be shunned for adding feta, or for using turkey as opposed to the traditional beef/veal/pork, but this hit the spot for Matt’s second birthday meal and while it did make a bit of a mess of my kitchen, the result was well worth it.

Overall Level of Effort: 2

Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Would Make It Again? Yes

Additional Notes: If I were to make this again, I would probably increase the spice level a bit within the stuffing mixture and go with a leaner beef for more flavor, as opposed to the turkey.