Recipe: Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

1 (3 ½ ounce) bag boil-in-bag long grain rice

4 medium red bell peppers

¾ pound ground sirloin

1 cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon allspice

2 cups bottled tomato and basil pasta sauce, divided

½ cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

½ cup dry red wine

Lo Notes:

Instead of instant rice, I make one cup of uncooked rice in a rice cooker.  I’m pretty sure it’s not exact, but it’s good enough. I’ve also used leftover arroz con gandules as a substitute and fuck me running, that shit was out of this world. #HappyLittleAccidents

I get LARGE bell peppers instead of medium.  The pepper stuffing always yields more than can fit in medium peppers.  Also, I tend to get orange or yellow peppers instead of red because their sweet taste adds something special to the recipe.  Make sure your peppers, regardless of color or size, can easily stand up.  I’ve gotten good at balancing them just so in the oven…but why make it hard on yourself?

The allspice, seriously, ain’t even fucking necessary.  I don’t even know why it’s in there.

Directions:

1. Cook the rice.

2. Preheat oven to 450°.

3. cut the tops off the bell peppers.  You can reserve the tops if you’re going to use them as a garnish. Translation: Reserve the tops if you’re going to take Instagram pics. Get rid of all the seeds and innards.  Place the peppers, cut side down, on a microwave safe dish and microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, onion, parsley, paprika, salt and all-spice.  Cook until the meat is slightly brown and crumbly.

5.  Remove from heat. Add the cooked rice, ½ cup of pasta sauce and cheese.  Mix thoroughly.

6. Fill the peppers evenly with the mixture.  Place them on a baking dish coated with cooking spray and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

7. While the peppers are in the oven, combine wine and remaining 1 ½ cups of pasta sauce to a small pot and bring to a boil.

Lo Note: I like to add some red pepper flakes to the sauce to give it a little kick.

8.  Remove peppers and top with wine sauce.

Honestly, this recipe is slightly more involved than I would like. But it tastes so damn good that it’s worth all the time spent running around the kitchen like a lunatic.

I cut my pepper up into a flat bowl so it's easier for me to snarf it down.

Recipe inspiration found HERE.

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