Stuffed peppers

Method

1. Cut a lid around the stalk of each pepper and pull it out with the seed core attached. Shake out the loose seeds. Leave the peppers whole and do not trim the base, or the filling will leak away.
2. Fry the onion in two tablespoons of the oil over a medium heat until soft, about eight minutes. Add the meat and cook, breaking it up, until it is no longer pink.
3. Off the heat, stir in the paprika, the rice, the parsley, salt and pepper. The rice goes in raw; it will swell to nearly twice its size in the oven.
4. Fill each pepper about three-quarters full, tapping it on the board to settle the mixture. Packed tight, the rice has nowhere to go and will split the pepper.
5. Stand the peppers upright in a deep baking dish, close together so they hold one another up.
6. Whisk the flour into the water until smooth, then stir in the passata, the sugar, the remaining oil and a good pinch of salt. Pour it around the peppers until they are two-thirds submerged.
7. Bake at 190°C for an hour and a half, basting once or twice and topping up with hot water if the sauce reduces too far. They are done when the skins are wrinkled and blistered and a knife goes through the flesh with no resistance.
8. Rest them for fifteen minutes before serving. They are better warm than hot, and better still the next day.