Italian Stuffed Peppers
Sept 4, 2023 2:20:55 GMT -5
Post by ExquisiteGerbil on Sept 4, 2023 2:20:55 GMT -5
Italian Stuffed Peppers
INGREDIENTS WITH GRAM AMOUNTS
6 large bell peppers - cut in half and seeds removed
1/4 cup (56g) olive oil - divided
1 1/2 pounds (680g) ground chuck
2 cups (410g) cooked white rice
8 cloves garlic - minced
1 cup (240g) low-sodium beef stock
1 cup (90g) Pecorino Romano - grated
1/4 cup parsley - minced
1/4 cup basil - chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 cups (960g) marinara sauce - divided
3/4 cup (180g) water
1 cup (100g) mozzarella - shredded
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt divided, plus more to taste.
Preheat the oven to 375f and set the rack to the middle level and bring a pot of water to boil. Slice 6 large bell peppers in half and remove the seeds. Mince 8 cloves of garlic and a 1/4 cup of Italian flat-leaf parsley. Chop a 1/4 cup of basil and grate 1 cup of Pecorino Romano and shred 1 cup of block mozzarella cheese.
Boil the peppers for 7-8 minutes or until fork tender. Remove and drain the peppers and set them aside to cool.
Heat a large pan to a touch higher than medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, spread out the ground chuck and let it brown.
Break up the meat with a wooden spoon or meat masher and continue to cook until well browned. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until very fragrant. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner.
Add the Pecorino Romano, 2 cups of cooked white rice, 1 cup of low-sodium beef broth, 2 teaspoons of dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, 1 cup of marinara sauce, and the parsley and basil. Mix well and taste the stuffing, adjusting any salt and pepper to taste. Note: You want this stuffing to taste really flavorful. Don’t be shy with the salt. If it seems bland, add more salt and/or Pecorino.
Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet and season the interior of each pepper with a generous sprinkle of salt. Peppers are bland on their own so salting at this step is important.
Spoon the stuffing into the pepper cavity until full and place them in a baking dish deep enough to hold the peppers and the marinara sauce.
Add the remaining 3 cups of marinara sauce and 3/4 cup of water into the dish. The sauce should cover the bottom 1-2 inches of the peppers. Sprinkle the tops with the mozzarella cheese and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top of the peppers.
Cover the peppers with parchment paper, then tightly with foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Note: The layer of parchment prevents the cheese from sticking while the foil wrapped tightly helps the peppers steam and cook more quickly.
Remove the covering and bake for 15 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted and golden. For a more golden top, broil for 1-2 minutes but watch carefully to prevent burning. Spoon the pan sauce onto the peppers and serve with more grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Enjoy!
Top Tips
Peppers. We used red and green bell peppers for this recipe but you can use any color of bell pepper you’d like. You can use other peppers as well, but depending on the size and shape you may have more stuffing than you need. I
The meat. We used 80/20 ground chuck for this recipe. If you’d like to use leaner chopped meat, bulk sausage, or ground chicken/turkey you definitely can.
Seasoning. Peppers can be quite bland on their own so seasoning the inside of the cavity with salt is very important. Be sure to taste your stuffing prior to filling the peppers and make any adjustments there as well.
Marinara. We used our simple marinara sauce for this recipe. It’s a great way to use up leftover marinara! Alternatively, you can use crushed tomatoes that have been seasoned with a little salt and minced garlic.
Baking. We recommend covering the peppers first with parchment paper to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil, then foiling and sealing tightly. This helps to keep the peppers moist and allows them to steam in the oven. Stuffed bell peppers are much better when they are very soft. The initial par-boiling significantly helps with speeding up the softening, otherwise, the peppers could take as long as 90 minutes to cook. But use the cooking time as a general number and if the peppers need a bit more time, let them resume baking until they are very soft.
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