Chef John's Stuffed Peppers

This was a filling and fairly cheap recipe. It makes a lot, and the rice in the stuffing means that you won't overeat. We debated in our house about eating the pepper. I say you should eat the pepper, Doug just ate the innards. I think he was wasting a perfectly good pepper! I'm not even a big bell pepper fan, but when I cut it into bite-size pieces and ate it with the rest, it gave it a nice crunch.

There is a drawback to this recipe and it's one I should have looked at beforehand: it takes a good long while to make. You can definitely speed things up by cooking the rice ahead of time. This will save you at least 20 minutes.

• 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 lb hot Italian pork sausage, casing removed
• 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
• 4 large green bell peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

Bring rice and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed, 20-25 minutes. Set the cooked rice aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook onion and olive oil over medium heat until onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Transfer half of cooked onion to a large bowl and set aside. Stir marinara sauce, beef broth, balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes into the skillet; cook and stir for 1 minute. Pour sauce mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and set aside.

Combine ground beef, sausage, tomatoes, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper into bowl with reserved onions; mix well. Stir in cooked rice and Parmesan. Stuff bell peppers with beef and sausage mixture.

Place stuffed bell peppers in the baking dish over tomato sauce; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese, cover baking dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake until the meat is no longer pink, the peppers are tender and the cheese is browned on top, an additional 20-25 minutes.

NOTE: I would have liked more of the marinara flavor in the rice mixture. I had to make sure to drizzle some over the top of my pepper when I served myself. Maybe it would be more pervasive if you ladle some on top once you remove the foil? Not sure.

Serves 8

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Recipe from AllRecipes.com