So, I’m not sure why, but I got the urge to make stuffed peppers last night…. My Great-Grandmother used to make them, and that’s really the only experience I ever had with them… However, I decided I wanted to try to make them, and for my first attempt, the reviews of the “test-subjects” (mom and Virginia) was favorable.
To start off, you’ll need some bell peppers. This recipe makes enough filling for 4 large bell peppers. When I say large, I mean bell peppers that are a little bit bigger than MY fist… but, consider each pepper as a serving. So, with 4 peppers, you get roughly 1/3 – 1/2 of a pound of filling in each… adjust the size and quantity of your peppers to adjust for your desired serving size. Also, you’re going to need a cup and a half of cooked rice. So.. if you have some leftover rice, that’s fine… but, I had to make fresh rice because I didn’t have any lying around… So.. that slowed me down a little bit.
I’m sure this isn’t new to anyone, but as far as sweet peppers go, the color really determines how sweet, and how “strong” the pepper will be. The reds, oranges, and yellows will be more mild flavored, and a bit sweeter. The green will taste the most like bell peppers, and be the least sweet. So, if you’re not too keen on peppers, or if they give you digestive distress, you can still make this meal… just move to a pepper that’s better suited to your digestive system / taste. Red = sweetest/most mild, then orange, then yellow, then green.
So, now that you have your peppers, and you’re well versed on their rank structure, it’s time for some prep work. This is one of those recipes that will require you to have the majority of your ingredients ready at the same exact time, so doing as much prep as possible up-front is the key to making this go smoothly.
To start off, chop up a medium sized sweet yellow onion and mince few good sized bits of garlic.
Set all of this to the side for a minute, put enough water in a large pot (large enough to hold all of your peppers) toss in a few TBSP of coarse Kosher salt, and bring it to a boil. While you’re waiting for it to boil, cut the tops off of your peppers, remove as much of the “ribs” as possible, and get rid of the seeds.
A sharp knife is the key here… it makes it go quickly…
While you’re still waiting for your water to boil, get the filling somewhat ready…
Start with a pound of lean ground beef (80/20 is good enough) and add a chopped up medium sized tomato. You could use canned tomato, but this time of year, it’s easy enough to find good tomatoes. This is also a good time to get your oven preheating to 350.
Now, back to the stovetop…. Your water is boiling. In one smooth motion, put your peppers into the boiling water. Put them in with the open side up, allowing them to fill with water. You want to have the entirety of each pepper under the boiling water. Interestingly, the orange and yellow peppers sank, and the two green ones tried to float. I put a wooden spoon in each of the green peppers to keep them under. Your peppers need to spend about 3-4 minutes in the boiling water. You just want to get them a little softer right now..After they’ve been in for a few minutes, invert them somewhere where they can drain / drip dry. For me, this was a cooling rack laid across the sink.
While the peppers are boiling, toss your chopped onions into a pan with 3-4 TBSP of olive oil and cook them until thy begin to turn translucent. Once they become translucent (should happen in 4-5 minutes), toss in your garlic and move it around in the pan for another minute or so.
Add the onions and garlic to your meat and tomatoes, and give it a dose of salt and pepper, as well as about 2 TSP of dried oregano.
Then, add your cup and a half of cooked rice, and it’s time to get dirty. There’s no clean and/or pretty way to mix this all up. So, roll up your sleeves, take off your jewelry, and get into it with both hands. You may need to let this sit for a little bit to allow the onions, garlic, and rice to be at a temperature where it’s not painful to mix them by hand.
When it’s all mixed up, it should look something vaguely like this mess above. The only thing you’re really going for is making sure that all of the various ingredients are distributed mostly evenly, so you don’t have one pepper stuffed with all rice, and one with all meat.
Your oven should be preheated by now… So it’s time to get the peppers ready to go into the oven. The peppers have drained, and are dry inside, so get a 9x13 pan or similar, place all of your peppers into the pan, and toss about 1/4 cup of water into the bottom of the pan. Then, drizzle the inside of each pepper with a little bit more olive oil. just about 1/2 TSP or so into each pepper.
It’s now time to stuff the peppers.
Once again, no rocket science here. Pack the peppers with your mixture. Jam it into the peppers a little at a time to ensure that you get it down into the valleys of each pepper. If you come a little over the top with the mixture, it’s ok. It’ll shrink a little bit when you cook it. After they’re all stuffed, make a little sauce to go on top from 1/2 Cup of Ketchup, 2 TSP Worcestershire sauce (I use the “thick” kind), and a splash of your favorite hot sauce. Mix it all up, and smear it onto the top of your peppers, nice and thick.
Now, toss the whole she-bang into the oven for about an hour… If your peppers are smaller or larger, adjust your time a little bit in either direction. You want to make sure that the meat is cooked all of the way through, but you don’t want them getting dry. If you need to, you can stab them with a meat thermometer to make sure that the internal temperature at the center is at least 165.
Viola! Here’s how they look when they come out of the oven. The tops should be nice and dark, the skin on the peppers just ever so wrinkly… We paired them with a light and crisp Chardonnay… which may seem odd for something made with beef, but with the rice and pepper, it paired pretty well.
