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Picadillo-stuffed Peppers

A dish of bell pepper halves filled with a tofu and soy "beef" picadillo and topped with a tomato sauce.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 19 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Picadillo-stuffed Peppers

Oven350°F
Timeabout 30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Stir all sauce ingredients together in a saucepan. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and cook until ready to assemble.

Make the picadillo filling

  1. Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add garlic, scallions, celery and diced tofu. Sauté for 3 minutes, then add soy ground "beef", chile and adobo sauce. Cook mixture for 5 minutes. Add raisins, lime juice, cilantro and oregano. Reduce heat to low. Cook mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Assemble and bake

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Spread half of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Spoon picadillo filling into pepper halves and place face-up in the pan.

  3. Pour remaining sauce over the stuffed peppers.

  4. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

679Calories
40 gProtein
35 gFat
50 gCarbs

Counts 17 of 19 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 17 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Tofu100g firm76
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Yellow Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Mexican Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Saucenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Thyme + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Diced tomatoes
Provide the liquid base of the sauce and its bright, acidic flavour.
Tomato paste
Concentrates tomato flavour and thickens the sauce as it cooks.
Tofu
Adds firm, savoury body to the filling so it holds its shape.
Soy ground "beef"
Supplies the meaty texture that the picadillo filling is built around.
Golden raisins
Add sweetness that balances the acidity of the lime and tomatoes.
Yellow bell peppers
Form the edible shell that holds the filling and softens as it bakes.

The step that matters

Reduce the heat before adding the raisins and herbs. Cilantro and lime juice lose their fresh aroma and the raisins can scorch when the pan is too hot, so keeping the heat low preserves flavour.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, tomato, red wine, thyme, olive, garlic, celery):

  1. Rosemaryfits better
  2. Oreganofits better
  3. Basilfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, tomato, red wine, thyme, olive, garlic, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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