This dish holds a very special place in my heart, because I made it for the hubs the first weekend after our honeymoon when he moved into my home, so it kind of symbolizes the transfer from my home to our home. I had always heard him talk about how much he loved his grandma’s stuffed peppers, as his new wife I wanted him to feel completely at home, so I decided to make them for him. The only problem was I had never eaten a stuffed pepper in my life, and had not a clue how to make them. I started by calling my mom to ask for help she was zero help since she had never made them either, she sent me to my Aunt Charlene. My aunt told me that some people use a ground beef and rice mix while others make almost a meatloaf type filling. Well I knew for a fact the meatloaf method was not happening here, I have explained before my fear of meatloaf. I consulted a few cookbooks and called the hubs grandma, and sort of got an idea of how I was going to make these. To make a long story shorter he loved them and I have been making them the same way since.
Makes 6 peppers (note this picture was taken prior to baking I was running out of daylight)
1 lb lean Ground Beef
1 cup onion finely diced
5 or 6 button mushrooms finely diced
6 bell peppers
1 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
Beef Broth
1 box Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice
2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ tsp red pepper
½ tsp cumin
Cut very top off of the peppers, don’t throw this away, I mean throw away the stem but not the pepper part and dice the tops of 3 peppers up to add to the stuffing. Remove the seeds and the white inside the peppers, cut a small amount off the bottom of each pepper, for stability, be careful not to take too much or you will have a leaky pepper. Blanch the peppers in salted boiling water for five minutes, remove and cool.
In a large heavy bottom skillet heat some EVOO and a pat of butter, add diced veggies (diced peppers, onions, and mushrooms). Sauté for a few minutes to soften add ground beef. Brown thoroughly and drain. Return meat and veggies to skillet, add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add rice and seasoning packet to the skillet plus 1 cup of beef broth. Simmer for the 20 minutes the rice takes to cook. Keep broth handy you may need to add more as the rice cooks. A few minutes prior to stuffing the pepper add 1 cup of the cheese to the meat and rice mix, combine well.
Fill each pepper to the top with meat and rice mixture; pack it down a bit so the pepper is really stable and full. Top each pepper with a bit of cheese. Bake pepper for 30 minutes at 350. ENJOY!!! By the way these freeze amazingly well. If you are going to freeze them, don’t bake them; just wrap them tightly with foil or plastic wrap and place in a Ziploc freezer bag.
