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I make this scrumptious stuffed pepper soup in a traditional Uzbek way with a few twists. This soup is such a favorite of ours that I always make a large batch of it to have some leftovers the next day or two. It is full of flavor and has a wonderful natural sweet and tangy taste. My kids aren't always big on soups, but they devour this to the last drop. This soup is also very nutritious and satisfying. You only need one pepper per bowl to feel full unless you are very hungry. I am always hungry for this soup. This is a great dish to serve at larger friend and family gatherings.

What makes this stuffed pepper soup Uzbek?

I am a huge fan of Uzbek cuisine and make a lot of Uzbek and other Central Asian food at home. Central Asian cuisine is so underrated. So, what makes this soup Uzbek?

In Uzbekistan, people love using lots of onions and garlic and often add tomatoes to soups. Onions add moisture to the meat and sweetness to the dish's flavor profile. Tomatoes and peppers are often added to soups to contribute to that sweet and tangy taste. With these ingredients, you don't need any sauces and lots of species to have a rich flavor.

Uzbeks love their veggies cut into large chunks. I think it makes the texture of the soup more interesting. It also allows for longer cooking of potatoes and carrots and keeping their shape. A large potato in the bowl of soup can be easily broken into smaller pieces or mashed. Its texture is very soft and creamy.

There are more nuances, including how this soup is cooked, but more on that later.

Making this stuffed pepper soup

This soup consists of only beef, vegetables, and a few basic seasonings. That's all it needs to have a rich and delightful flavor. Mostly. I add two cubes of beef broth. That's absolutely not required, but it adds more flavor. So, why not?

Large bell peppers will work in this recipe, but I prefer the baby bell peppers or similar peppers about 3 inches long. The stuffing with raw beef and rice will easily cook through in them, and they are more manageable when served in a standard soup bowl.

You can use regular ground beef; only go for the 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio. However, I highly recommend using ground chuck for this recipe. Chuck, ground through a medium-sized grinder plate (3/16" or 4.5mm), will have the richest taste and a pleasant texture.

If you don't have a grinder at home, you can pick up a piece of chuck at the grocery store and ask at the meat counter to grind it for you.

The most challenging part of the recipe is preparing the ingredients, like grinding the meat and chopping the vegetables. But once those are ready, the rest is a cakewalk.

In Uzbekistan, most soup is made in a kazan, a traditional large cast iron pot resembling a wok. This is one of the country's most popular cooking tools.

However, you don't need to use one to make a great-tasting stuffed pepper soup, but I highly recommend cooking it in a large cast iron Dutch oven. Something about the taste of this soup made in cast iron can't be replicated.

Tips

This recipe makes a large batch. I do it because this soup is great reheated the next couple of days. I also sometimes freeze it; it freezes very well.
If you want a smaller batch, you can easily scale the recipe by dividing all ingredients, for example, by two or four. But with the work involved, it makes sense to make a larger batch and enjoy it for a couple of days. This soup is so delicious that you won't get tired of it so quickly. Actually, I think it gets better on the second day, like the Ukrainian borsch.
If too much water evaporates during cooking, add boiling water from a kettle and let the soup cook for a few minutes.
When reheating the soup the next day or after, if you feel there isn't enough liquid, simply add more water. Better yet, add some beef broth.
After cooking for an hour and twenty minutes, the peppers will be very soft, so handle them very carefully when transferring them to serving plates.
To the point above regarding handling the cooked peppers carefully, when adjusting the soup for salt, do not stir it. Simply sprinkle more salt over the liquid and let it simmer for a few minutes, letting the salt dissolve on its own.
This soup is scrumptious on its own and doesn't need anything else to accompany it. That said, a dollop of sour cream with some chopped fresh herbs makes the soup even better, in my opinion. It's not an Uzbek thing, but I love it. Try it.