Stuffed Peppers

My Mom would make these when my sisters and I were growing up.  It was a great use of leftover meat which she would chop or grind up,  adding other yummy ingredients to make a delicious filling.  I remember not eating the pepper, just the filling.  Ah well, times have changed and so have my tastes.

This is an excellent recipe and only gets better if all are not eaten and a few are left over for the next couple of days.   My son really enjoys it as a sandwich between a kaiser roll 🙂

I followed the recipe exactly with a few tweaks here and there.  I don’t serve it with anything, like the recipe suggests because I think it’s a meal in itself.

Just a few side notes:  any color pepper can be used.  Sometimes the red ones are not that good.  That just happened and my husband bought the yellow ones instead.  If you can time this recipe using leftover rice from another meal, great.  But more often than not, I have to cook the rice needed.  Chopping up the pepper tops is tedious.   If you have a Cuisinart or a mini Cuisinart, my personal preference is to use it to chop the pepper tops and the onions.  It just makes everything go a little more quickly.

Stuffed Peppers (Bon Appetit February 2002)

6 large (8 ounce) red bell peppers

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups finely chopped onions (~ 2 large)

6 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

3 large  garlic cloves, finely chopped

2/3 cup cooked white rice, somewhat cooled

1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika or regular paprika (just make sure it’s fresh, within 6 months)

1-1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon allspice

2-1/2 cups tomato sauce (canned, jarred, homemade.  If I don’t have homemade I like Victoria or  Rao’s Marinara sauce)

1-1/4 pounds ground beef, 85%

1 large egg

Cut off top 1/2 inch of peppers and reserve.  Scoop seeds and the little membrane from the cavities of the pepper, using your hands.  Cut off the good part of the pepper tops and chop finely (or use the Cuisinart).  Heat oil in a large skillet, preferably non-stick, over medium high heat.  Add onions, parsley, garlic and chopped pepper.  Saute mixture until onions are soft, about 8 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.

Mix in rice, paprika, salt, pepper and allspice.  Cool for 10 minutes.  Mix in 1/2 cup tomato sauce, beef and egg and stir until completely combined.

Place 1 cup of tomato sauce onto bottom of large pot.  Take 1 pepper and using an ice cream scoop, put about 2 scoops of beef mixture into cavity.  Place into pot.  Repeat with remaining peppers.  If you have beef mixture left over, divide it among the peppers.  Ladle another 1 cup of tomato sauce over peppers.

Bring sauce to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce heat to low, medium/low and cover.  Cook for about 20-30 minutes.  Uncover and if possible, spoon sauce over each pepper.  Cover again and cook for another 20 – 30 minutes until filling is firm and the pepper is very tender when poked with a sharp fork or knife.

mis en place:

cut tops off pepper:

clean out cavity of seeds and membrane and cut off good part of pepper tops:

if available, chop pepper tops with Cuisinart:

and the onion:

add chopped peppers, onions, parsley and garlic to large heated skillet:

cook for about 8 minutes:

add mixture to large bowl with rice, paprika, salt, pepper and allspice:

mix in tomato sauce, beef and egg:

ladle in 1 cup of tomato sauce onto bottom of large pot:

scoop beef mixture into peppers and place peppers in pot:

cover with 1 cup tomato sauce:

peppers after 40 minutes to 1 hour of cooking:

yum!