Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 6 Bell peppers (any color)
• 1 lb. Ground beef
• 2 cups cooked medium grain rice like Jasmine
• 28 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 Onion
• 1 Small bulb fennel
• 5 Garlic cloves
• 2 Cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil
• 2 Teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 Teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 Teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1-2 Teaspoons sugar

Instructions

1. Cut tops off of peppers and scoop out all the seeds and ribs inside, cut the onion into small dice, cut the top off the fennel and cut it into small dice, peel and mince the garlic cloves, dice the leftover pepper tops to use in the filling. Preheat your oven to 400
2. Heat a large dutch oven or high-sided pot over medium heat and swirl in a teaspoon of olive oil. Add the beef and brown breaking apart into small pieces. One it’s cooked through remove with a slotted spoon to a separate plate.
3. Swirl in another Tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions, fennel, and pepper tops along with a generous pinch of salt.
4. Sweat the vegetables until the onion turns translucent then add the garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, and crushed red pepper and fry for about 30 seconds more until the garlic and dried herbs are fragrant.
5. Add the canned tomatoes and sugar to the pan stirring and crushing up the whole tomatoes with the back of your spoon. Add the cooked ground beef and simmer the tomato beef mixture for about 15 minutes to let the flavors come together.
6. Turn off the burner and allow the tomato and beef mixture cool slightly. After about 10 minutes add the cooked rice and stir to combine.
7. After the rice is incorporated add half of the shredded cheese and stir to combine. Now fill each pepper to the top with the filling mixture and place in a baking dish standing upright.
8. Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes uncovered until the peppers start to look a little soft. After 30 minutes remove from the oven and top each pepper with the remaining shredded cheese, then bake for 10-15 minutes more until the cheese is browned to your liking.
9. Remove the peppers from the oven, allow to cool for at least 15 minutes the serve.

Notes

These make great leftovers so definitely make all six. They are almost better the next day, to be honest. I’ve also used hallowed out tomatoes instead of or in addition to bell peppers and they work great if you have someone in your house that doesn’t like peppers.

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