The more-or-less standard meat filling for stuffed vegetables, made with a lot of herbs and spices. It’s so delicious that you can bake the vegetables with no sauce around them, as in the recipe on page 492, or use one of the preparations on pages 445–447. You can add pine nuts and currants to this mixture if you like or make the vegetarian version that follows.

　　

Ingredients

makes enough to fill 4 to 6 large tomatoes or peppers, 8 or more cabbage leaves, or up to 30 or so grape leaves

　　2 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil

　　1 large onion, chopped

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1/4 cup long-grain rice

　　1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

　　1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

　　1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

　　3/4 pound ground lamb, preferably from the shoulder

　　1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

　　1/2 cup chopped fresh dill leaves

　　Zest of 1 lemon, minced

　　

Step 1

Put the butter in a small saucepan or skillet with a lid and place over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the onion and a sprinkling of salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft but not at all browned, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and spices and cook, stirring, until the rice is glossy, about a minute. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and turn the heat to low; cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes; don’t worry if the rice isn’t quite tender.

　　

Step 2

Combine the rice in a bowl with the lamb, some more salt and pepper, the herbs, and lemon zest. (If you are stuffing tomatoes with this mixture, include the tomato pulp here too.) Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to a day before stuffing tomatoes, peppers, or grape or cabbage leaves.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.