Step 1

Wash the peppers, cut the top off, and remove the middle section including seeds. Give the peppers a second rinse to remove the rest of the seeds.

Step 2

Wash the rice and add it to a small pot. Add water according to package directions and cook the rice until it is half cooked. Let it cool.

Step 3

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the ground meat, rice, egg, salt to taste, and black pepper to taste. Mix well.

Step 4

Stuff the green peppers with the meat-rice-mixture. If there is any left, you can form meatballs.

Step 5

Wash the celery stick and the banana peppers (optional). Also, peel the onion.

Step 6

Place the celery stick (you can cut it in half or thirds if it is too big), whole onion, and banana peppers (optional) into a large pot. Add the crushed tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Step 7

Add the stuffed peppers - and meatballs if any - into the pot. Add sufficient water to almost fully cover the contents. In our case, that's approx. 4 cups of water. Depending on the size of your pot and the size of the peppers, it might be more or less for you.

Step 8

Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Place a lid on the pot and let it simmer for around 1.5 hours. You can turn the peppers a couple of times during this time.

Step 9

Once the stuffed peppers are soft, remove them from the pot. Also remove the celery stick, onion, and hot peppers and squeeze out the juice. If it's too hot to touch them with your hands, you can place the vegetables in a strainer and then press down with a fork or spoon to squeeze the juice out. Discard the squeezed celery, onion, and banana peppers.

Step 10

In a small pot, make a light roux by melting one tablespoon of butter and adding the flour to it. Mix well with a wooden spoon until there are no flour lumps left and sauté the mixture until lightly brown. Add approx. two tablespoons of water to the roux and mix thoroughly.

Step 11

Add the roux to the pot of tomato sauce and whisk well. Bring the tomato sauce to a low boil and whisk regularly until there are no lumps left. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until it has thickened. Add a pinch of sugar and salt to taste.

Step 12

Placed the stuffed peppers (and meatballs) back in the pot of tomato sauce. Let them simmer for 2-3 minutes. You can serve the stuffed peppers with potatoes and/or bread.