Stuffed Bell Peppers

These stuffed peppers are packed with delicious savory ingredients that will certainly be a big hit at your dinner table. For some reason I always considered stuffed peppers to be a fancy dish that I was intimidated to try. Then one day, while browsing around on youtube, I saw a super simple recipe that completely changed my mind.  This recipe does have a bit of a longer cooking time for an average weeknight meal, but they are really quick and easy to prepare.  Once they go in the oven, you can pretty much set it and forget it while you go about whatever your other evening activities are.  I made this batch with green and orange peppers but next time I would stick to red or orange peppers.  The green peppers are just a little more bitter when they are baked. We really enjoyed the sweetness of the orange peppers paired with the savory beef and rice mixture.  You could substitute the ground beef with ground turkey or italian sausage or go vegetarian maybe with black beans or mushrooms or zucchini instead.    I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as we did. This dish will definitely be making the meal plan at least once a month for awhile!  

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Sauce:
1/2 small onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup beef broth or water
2 cups tomato sauce or marinara sauce
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Briefly saute the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until soft and translucent.  Combine the onions will all of the other ingredients in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and stir well.

Peppers:
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cups cooked white rice (leftover rice works great)
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 Slices of provolone or other cheese
3 large bell peppers, any color

Preheat the oven to 375°F. To prepare the peppers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the stem, seeds, ribs, etc so they are completely clean.  Combine all of the other ingredients except the cheese slices in a medium bowl and mix until everything just comes together. You don't want to over mix the ground beef. Divide the mixture evenly into the six pepper halves and place the peppers in the 9x13 pan right in the tomato sauce mixture. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 25-30 minutes more.  Add the slices of cheese (I used a four cheese Italian blend from the deli) on top of each pepper about 5 minutes before the end of the baking time. Let the peppers rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.  You can either serve the peppers with a base of the tomato sauce on the plate or spoon some over top of the peppers.

Enjoy!

Inspired by Food Wishes