Three Bites Food Blog

Links
e-mail
Funny Part I Part II Part IV
Interesting Stuff

Stuffed Peppers

June 6, 2009

My mom used to make these for my brothers and I - it was a family staple. I always had the same reaction whenever she would make the announcement that we would be having stuffed peppers for dinner: Uggggg..... can't we have something else?? The idea of them always seemed so dull to me. I'd sit myself at the dinner table and as soon as I started eating I realized I really liked them. Every time we had them it was the same ritual. I had the same reaction to meatloaf growing up too yet I always loved that dish too. I don't know why. I was eating lunch in the break room awhile back with some co-workers when someone was reheating stuffed peppers that her husband made the night before. The smell took me way back and I made up my mind to make them myself. These are slightly different from Mom's. For starters, she always used green bell peppers because they were the cheapest. The green ones are my least favorite and the red ones have a tremendous amount of antioxidants. Also, she used only ground beef whereas I opted for a ground turkey breast and ground beef combination for health reasons. Lastly, she always halved her peppers lenghthwise. I tried both variations: halved and whole with the top cut off. I liked the look of both of them.

Stuffed Peppers

4 large bell peppers - any color is fine
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 small jalapeno pepper (optional, the whole pepper or seeds and ribs removed to reduce the heat)
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups of tomato sauce (I used jar tonight but homemade is fine)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus at least that much to sprinkle on top
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 pound of ground meat - I used half turkey and half beef but one or the other or any combination is fine

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Prepare the bell peppers. You can either cut them in half lengthwise or just cut the top off if they are fat enough to stand up in the oven. Remove the seeds and ribs as best you can. Place on a baking dish with a lip as juice may be present by the end of the cooking process. If you do use the whole pepper with just the top cut off, cooking time may need to be adjusted. Use a meat thermometer to make sure it's fully cooked throughout.

Heat a large skillet (one that has a cover) over medium-high heat. Warm the olive oil then add the onion, jalepeno and garlic. Sautee for several minutes, stirring often, until softened but not browned. Add the uncooked rice and stir to combine making sure each grain is coated with oil. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool completely before adding to the ground meat.

Combine the rice, onion, garlic and jalepeno mixture with half of the tomato sauce (1 cup). Add 1/4 cup of grated cheese, the meat, egg, salt & pepper and combine well. Spoon the meat mixture into the peppers (or pepper halves). Spoon the remaining 1 cup of tomato sauce over the top, cover with foil and bake for at least 45 minutes. The peppers should be tender and the meat should be fully cooked. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top and return to the oven for a few minutes to melt.

Note: I used red peppers because I'm not a fan of the green bells. Half of the peppers I just cut the top off and the others I halved lengthwise. The ones that were halved lenghthwise were done in 45 minutes, the tall ones needed about 10 minutes more.