There are many ground beef recipes that are versatile for a variety of dishes, but Cuban Picadillo has to be my favorite. The pungent, salty olives mixed with sweet raisins and seasoned with familiar Cuban spices such as cumin and cinnamon, just can’t be beat. Picadillo is traditionally served as a main dish with rice, but it can also be the protein in dishes like Puerto Rican Pastelón which is layered with fried plantains, eggs and cheese, taking picadillo to a whole new level. This recipe uses traditional picadillo mixed with rice and stuffed into bell peppers. It is straight-forward and easy, making a beautiful presentation when you are responsible for the Saturday night raft-up meal. And it’s a good use of that left-over rice that’s been knocking around in your icebox for a couple days.
This recipe is for four people. Increase all ingredients depending on the amount of people you are serving. About 1 (maybe 2!) peppers per person.
Picadillo Stuffed Peppers
4 bell peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced, or more to taste
1 pound lean ground beef
2 (1.41 ounce) packages sazon seasoning (such as Goya®)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 cup cooked Wild Blend Rice, or any rice of your choice
10 large pimento stuffed green olives, sliced
½ cup raisins
1 tablespoon capers (Optional)
Parsley or cilantro for granish
Preheat your galley oven to 350º. Slice the tops off the peppers and gut the insides. To speed up this meal, I like to microwave the peppers for 5-7 minutes so they start to soften a bit. If you don’t have a microwave on board, just pop them into your heated galley oven for 10 minutes while you make the meat filling.
Mince the garlic and finely chop the onions. In a large fry pan, heat the olive oil. Fry the ground beef with the garlic and onions until brown.
Add the seasoning, cumin and cinnamon. This is the seasoning I like to use, but any Cuban or Mexican-type seasoning will work.
Add the can of crushed tomatoes and simmer on low for 8-10 minutes. Add the olives, raisins and capers and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Fold the rice into the ground beef mixture and warm through. Stuff the peppers with the Picadillo and place into a baking dish. .
Place the dish in your pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until cooked through and peppers are a bit more tender. Garnish with parsley or cilantro and serve hot or warm.
These can be refrigerated or frozen for future use.
Picadillo Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 Bell peppers
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Small white onion, finely chopped
- 2 Cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 lb Lean ground beef
- 2 1.4 oz pkg Sazon Seasoning, such as Goya®
- 1 tbsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 14 oz can Crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup Cooked Wild Blend Rice, or rice of your choice
- 10 Large pimento stuffed green olives, sliced
- ½ cup Raisins
- 1 tbsp Capers (optional)
- Parsley or cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Slice the tops off the peppers and gut the insides. To speed up this meal, microwave the peppers for 5-7 minutes so they start to soften a bit. If you don't have a microwave on board, just pop them into your galley oven while you make the meat filling.
- Mince the garlic and finely chop the onions. In a large fry pan, heat the olive oil. Fry the ground beef with the garlic and onions until brown.
- Add the Sazon seasoning, cumin and cinnamon.
- Add the can of crushed tomatoes and simmer on low for 8-10 minutes. Add the olives, raisins and capers and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
- Fold the rice into the ground beef mixture and warm through. Stuff the peppers with the Picadillo and place into a baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes until heated through.
- Serve hot or warm. These can be refrigerated or frozen for future use.
Notes
