Stuffed Peppers are an old-fashioned meal that I had forgotten about and was recently reintroduced to, and I have been won over. Finally, winter is over, and the time for dining al fresco is here! We ventured over to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, where they have a wonderful plaza of restaurants and shops. We decided to try Tavolino’s Pizzeria, and it was great. I had the Chicken Caesar Salad Gluten-Free Pizza, and I would highly recommend it. My husband ordered the stuffed pepper appetizer, and they were amazing. Now I needed to figure out how to make them myself. Stuffed Peppers are a wonderful comfort food to add to your regular schedule. A bonus to this recipe is that it is gluten-free and amazing. This Stuffed Pepper recipe is an updated version of the stuffed peppers that Mom would make when I was a kid. You remember those….minute rice and tomato soup! These are much better and pretty easy to make.
There are a lot of steps to this Stuffed Peppers Recipe, but it is not difficult. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the rice as directed on the package and set aside. While the rice is cooking, add olive oil to a hot frying pan. Brown the sausage and ground beef. Drain off liquid. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Next step is to add the wine and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook the meat and vegetable mixture down a bit and add the canned tomatoes (I am very partial to the Pastene Ground Peeled Tomatoes), dried spices, and sugar. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add the fresh basil and parsley. While the sauce is cooking, cut the tops off the peppers and clean them out. Add the cooked rice into a mixing bowl and add a few cups of the sauce/ground beef mixture. Don’t use all the meat sauce. Leave some aside to use on the peppers after they come out of the oven if someone wants it. Don’t make it too wet, or you will have “soupy” peppers.
Stuff the peppers with the rice/meat mixture and add them to a baking pan. Try to have them fit snuggly into the pan, so they do not tip over. These take longer to cook than you might think. I would cook them for at least 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, take them out, add a generous amount of mozzarella to the top of each pepper, and put the stuffed peppers back into the oven for at least another 20 minutes.
Everything inside has been cooked, but you want the peppers to soften and this takes a while. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with the extra sauce and a glass of wine! Be prepared, one of these is a hearty meal. Enjoy!
A home cooked meal is a labor of love
-Unknown
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Ingredients
Method
- Cook the rice in advance and set it aside.
- Preheat over to 350 degrees.
- Add Olive oil to a hot frying pan. Brown the sausage and ground beef. Drain off liquid. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent. Add the wine and scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook down a bit and then add the tomatoes, dried spices, and sugar. Let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add the fresh basil and parsley and now it is ready.,
- While the sauce is cooking, cut the tops off the peppers and clean them out. Put the cooked rice into a mixing bowl and add a few cups of the sauce as well as the ground beef mixture. Don’t make it too wet, or you will have “soupy” peppers.Stuff the peppers with the rice/meat mixture and add them to a baking pan. Try to have them fit snuggly into the pan, so they do not tip over.
- These take longer to cook than you might think. I would cook them for at least 40 minutes.
- After 40 minutes, take them out, add a generous amount of mozzarella to the top of each pepper, and put them back into the oven for at least another 20 minutes.
- Everything inside has been cooked, but you want the peppers to soften, and this takes a while.
- Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with the extra sauce and a glass of wine! Be prepared one of these is a hearty meal. Enjoy!