For me, Stuffed Peppers is the ultimate comfort meal. This dish brings me back to my childhood and triggers memories of my mom cooking for my family on cold fall / winter nights. Although it is now spring here in New England, winter weather has certainly lingered, otherwise making this dish the perfect choice for your next family meal. And don’t get me wrong, this dinner can certainly be enjoyed during the warmer months, as well!

This recipe is designed to fill 6 peppers, however, depending on your family size, you can also choose to fill 2 or even 4 (as I did below), and save the remaining stuffing for left-over meals.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 6 green peppers, cleaned & hollowed (save the tops)
• 6 pepper tops, chopped
• 1 cup cooked rice of your choice
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 24 oz. tomato sauce (I prefer store bought “Four Cheese” sauce for the recipe, but homemade is wonderful too)
• 14.5 oz canned, diced tomatoes (basil, garlic & oregano)
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• Olive oil

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: 

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Coat an electric frying pan with olive oil and add onion and green pepper; cook until tender and onions are translucent (3-4 min)
• Add ground beef, salt and pepper; cook until the meat is no longer pink (5-6 min)
• Mix in rice, tomato sauce and canned tomatoes, leaving 1/4 of sauce and 1/4 of canned tomatoes remaining to coat the bottom of the baking dish
• Add parmesan cheese and garlic powder, stir thoroughly
• Cover and simmer on low (5 min)
• Coat the bottom of a casserole dish or loaf pan with the remaining sauce and tomatoes; this will boil down to a nice sauce that is great to pour over the peppers before serving
• Fill each pepper with meat/rice stuffing and place in baking dish
  *If additional stuffing remains, store refrigerated in a plastic container until the next meal
• Cover and bake for 35-40 min or until peppers are soft
• If desired, top with your choice of cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 5 min
• Plate and enjoy!