Stuffed Peppers {Recipe}

A month or so ago, I made stuffed peppers using a recipe from a good friend of mine.  She had made them for me a number of times but I'd never made them myself.  I don't know why I waited so long!  They are so easy and SO delicious and this recipe makes enough for dinner, lunch the next day, and then some {depending on how much self-restraint you have}.

You can modify this recipe a million different ways...we are still tweaking it to find what combination we like best!

I browned the beef and Italian sausage together ahead of time while Duke was napping so I could save some time cooking later on.  Our evenings are hit or miss when Dennis gives Duke a bottle {see this post} so I try to prep in the afternoons when possible.  Anyway, I set aside about 1/4-1/2 lb of the mixture for pizzas later in the week {it's A LOT of meat but you can obviously leave it all in as well!} and put it all in the fridge.

Heavily seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder, and Italian seasoning

Clean your peppers and chop of the tops so you can easily empty the contents.  Also- it's very important that your peppers can stand up on their own so you may need to cut a little off the bottom so they are level!  Coat with olive oil and salt and pepper and place in a 350 degree oven to roast/soften.  I probably left them in for 15 minutes but it really depends on the thickness of your pepper.  You want them to be nice and soft but still sturdy.

Next, we need to complete the filling!  If you cooked the meat ahead of time like I did, you'll just need to saute your chopped up onion in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  If you just cooked the meat, drain it off and set aside and saute your onion in the same pan.  When the onion is translucent, add your meat back in. 

Then add your can of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, corn (totally optional but adds a nice crunch), and microwave/add in the rice.  I also added in a lot more salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic salt and Italian seasoning.  Season all the things!

Mix everything together and heat through.  I let this mixture simmer a bit so all of the flavors can combine while my peppers are roasting away in the oven.  

Next I pull the peppers out, drain out any excess oil that has pooled in the bottom and place 1/4 slice of pepper jack cheese in the bottom.  

Now stuff those peppers!  I just use a large spoon to add the filling in up to the rim of the pepper.

I top with a full slice of pepper jack cheese.

And place it back in the oven until it's all melty, ooey, gooey, delicious.  5 minutes or so but keep an eye on it so all of the cheese doesn't melt off.  :)

And you're done!  When I don't make any sides, I add some of the stuffing mixture to the plate and put the pepper on top.  This meal is so filling and delicious and you can seriously stretch it for multiple meals!  It heats up deliciously the next day. 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

• 4 bell peppers
• 1 onion
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 5-a million slices of pepper jack cheese
• 2 packages Uncle Ben's Ready Rice
• 1 can of corn (I added this at the last minute)
• Seasoning: salt, pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Clean peppers and cut off top/empty contents.  Coat with olive oil and salt and pepper and put on a baking sheet.  Roast in oven for 15-20 minutes depending on thickness until peppers are nice and soft. 
In a pan, cook ground beef and Italian sausage.  Season well.  When full cooked, drain and set aside.  Cook diced onion in pan until translucent.  Add meat back in.  Add sauce, diced tomatoes, and cooked rice.  Add in corn (optional).  Mix all together and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Season well.  
Add 1/4 slice of cheese to the bottom of each pepper and stuff with mixture.  Top with full slice of pepper jack cheese and place back in the oven until nice and melted.  Serve immediately!

-T-