Week 28: Stuffed Bell Peppers

It has been some good eats here at the Benson house.

I have a bell pepper obsession. I love every color (especially yellow and orange) and they are the best addition to any dish.

This time we centered the dish around bell peppers. And it was delish.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

Recipe adapted from a few different recipes, but mostly based on Emeril's version.

3 beautiful bell peppers, tops cut away and seeds removed
1 tablespoons veggie oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 pound ground beef and ground turkey mixture (use whatever meat you want)
1/2 tablespoon garlic
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves (fresh from the garden, holla!)
1/8 cup chopped oregano (from my garden!)
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 cup cooked rice
4 ounces tomato sauce

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, parboil* the peppers until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Removed with slotted spoon and dry on paper towel.
3. In a large saute pan or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and chopped bell peppers and cook until soft about 3 minutes.
4. Add meat, tomatoes, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, black pepper and pepper flakes. Cook until meat is browned, breaking up the lumps with a spoon.
5. Add the rice and tomato sauce and stir well. Remove from heat and adjust the seasoning to taste.
6. Pour enough water into a baking dish to just cover the bottom, about 1/8 inch deep.
7. Stuff the bell peppers with the rice mixture and place in the baking dish.
8. Bake until peppers are tender and the filling is heated through. Usually 20-25 minutes.
9. Remove from oven, cool a bit and EAT!

*parboiling is when you partially cook a vegetable by boiling. I think of it as giving it a kick start before the baking.

Rating: 4.5. This was so good! It seems complicated, but it is basically Spanish rice stuffed into a pepper. Although, I changed mine and made it more Italian with the basil, oregano and red peppers. We scarfed the peppers up and Jacob at the leftover rice plain. That is just how good it was.