Stuffed peppers with sauce (gravy)

To make stuffed peppers with sauce, prepare the ingredients as listed. Peel the onion and carrots, wash them under running water along with the bell pepper, and pat dry with paper towels.

Rinse the round rice several times until the water is clean and clear. Place it in a cauldron, add water to just above the grain, and cook over high heat until half-cooked and the water has completely evaporated.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, add finely diced onion, and fry for 3-4 minutes. After a while, add coarsely grated carrots and fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Place the half-cooked rice and fried vegetables in a deep bowl and place in a cool place to cool.

Once the rice and vegetables have cooled, add the ground meat mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the prepared pepper filling sit for a while – to mature, so to speak.

Remove stems and seeds from the peppers, stuff them with the rice, meat, and vegetable mixture, and place in a large, deep saucepan. Cover the peppers with clean drinking water and bring to a boil. Once the water boils, lightly salt it, add the tomato sauce, and pressed garlic.

Simmer the peppers over low heat for 40-50 minutes. While cooking, add the bay leaf, season the sauce with pepper, and add a little sugar to balance the flavor if it's too tart. If the sauce is too thin, you can add flour diluted with cold water to make it glossy and thick, but this is optional.

Cover the cooked peppers tightly in the pan with a lid, turn off the stove and let the finished dish sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Divide the finished stuffed peppers among servings and drizzle with the sauce they were cooked in. Serve the stuffed peppers with the sauce as a standalone hot dish with sour cream.

Very tasty, enjoy.