Classic, easy to make and the perfect recipe for end of summer peppers that come out of your garden and are sitting around as the Autumn Nights start to kick in. Peppers are so versatile and forgiving with the stuffing.
Once you master the bake time for perfect peppers you can change the stuffing and it’s like an entirely new meal.
- 3/4ths Cup uncooked rice
- 1 Large Onion. Any kind of Onion will do but Brown Onion goes really well with Ground Beef
- 1 Small Can of Tomato Paste.
- 2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic. I buy already minced Garlic but the Fresh is so much better
- 1.5 Lb. Ground Beef. If you buy 70-30 you will have some juicier Peppers
- 1 16oz Can Diced Tomatoes. I like to get the kind that is “Italian Blend” it has Garlic, Oregano and other Seasoning in it.
- 8 Large Peppers or 12 Small to Medium Peppers
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 Cup Cheder Cheese
- 8oz Pack of Cream Cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375-400°. Cook your rice in the Rice Cooker according to directions. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add in your Diced Onion and cook till translucent. With the heat still on add in about 8oz Tomato Paste , your Garlic . Let it Simmer about 1 minute more. Keep stirring and turn down heat just a little. Add your Ground Beef, Salt and Pepper then turn the heat back up a bit. Go easy so you don’t scorch the sugars in the Tomato’s. Cook until no longer pink and all the big chunks have been chopped up uniformly from your stirring the mixture.
- While you are in-between stirring your Beef filling go ahead and cut the tops off your Peppers. Clean out the weird flesh inside. Dice the Pepper tops and either add to your Beef Mix, You could Layer in at the bottom of your Peppers (see layers in step 3)or just set aside to eat with dip. Obviously if you are going to eat with Dip don’t dice the tops.
- Place your Pepper Shells Into your Oven Bake Dish. Spoon in your mixture in layers.
- Spoon your cooked Rice into the bottoms of each pepper evenly. This helps to absorb the excess Fat from the Meat Filling.
- Next I like to spoon in some of the Diced Tomatoes over the Rice, add a layer of Cheddar Cheese then Spoon in some Meat Mix and then add another layer Of the Italian Blend Tomatoes over the Meat.
- Add a few spoons of the Cream Cheese and then more Meat Mix on top of that and then another layer of the Italian Blend.
- Optional: Add in about 1/4th of an inch of water to the bottom of your baking dish.
- Cover the Peppers with foil, semi loose and bake for about 35 minutes.
- Remove Cover and sprinkle on more Cheddar and bake for about 15-20 minutes more or until peppers are desired softness and cheese is melted.
- I bake on the lower rack at 375 and let them go a little longer to really bring it all together. Takes a little longer but it makes them taste a lot better.
Other great options are to just mix the rice and meat filling in the pan before filling but I really like the layers once you cut into the pepper. Cheese is a preference. I like Cheddar that is Sharp, Extra Sharp, White Cheddar or Orange. Sometimes we use Blue Cheese in addition or in place of other cheeses. If you do not mind the extra work, then the Ground Beef is much better when cooked alone and browned before adding to the Onions and Garlic Mix, but this is “Easy Stuffed Peppers”
Also consider using other kinds of rice, Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Jasmine Rice. Cottage Cheese, Mushrooms, Black Olives, Green Olives, Mascarpone Cheese make “Easy Stuffed Peppers” even Better. Just about everything goes great in Stuffed Peppers.
Another really delicious version is half Beef half Ground Pork(Italian Ground) but you really have to make sure it is cooked thoroughly in the stovetop pan before you stuff them and put them into the oven. Corn is another really interesting addition to the stuffing. Lends more of a Tex-Mex style to the dish. I will generally make Corn Bread if I go the Tex-Mex route. Peppers are really the Tacos of the Italian World. Just like a Burrito Shell, The Pepper Shell is versatile to so many fillings. Happy Health!