Stuffed Pepper Awesomeness

So, I love stuffed peppers. They remind me of my childhood. My mom made stuffed peppers all the time.

My recipe is inspired by my mom, but I’ve added my own touches – and measurements. Mom just eyeballs everything.


The dish does require quite a few pots and pans. So having dishwash-ing help is always a plus. Unfortunately, my husband is working uber late tonight. Normally, when he’s home and I’m not teaching we stand side-by-side doing cleanup duty. He washes; I dry. Tonight, I did both, but I imagined his happiness when digging into my magical stuffed peppers.

They really are thing of beauty.

So have at it.

Stuffed Peppers – Suzie Style

6 green bell peppers, tops cut off, seeded and cleaned
Marinara sauce, warmed – enough to coat the bottom of a roasting pan and to top each stuffed pepper

Stuffing
1 cup your favorite rice, cooked
1 lb. ground beef
½ white onion
2-3 cloves garlic
¼ cup Italian style bread crumbs
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add ground beef and break up with a flat-edged wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned.

Push ground beef to one side of pan. Add garlic and onion. Saute for a few minutes and mix well with ground beef. Remove pan from heat.

Add bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley and cooked rice to the beef mixture. Mix well. Taste for seasonings. Re-season with salt and pepper, if you desire.

Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with a thin layer of marinara sauce. Stuff each pepper with filling and line up in roasting pan. Once each pepper is filled, top with marinara sauce. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.