Spicy Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers

By á-6416

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 1 cup water
• 6 red bell peppers (orange and yellow peppers are good too)
• 8 oz canned black olives, roughly chopped
• 12 oz canned mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 16 ounces of spaghetti sauce, use your favorite homemade or canned variety (divide and set aside 1/2 cup of sauce)
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic (garlic powder is fine)
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup of your favorite cheese, shredded or thinly sliced

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the rice and the water in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, saute the onions in a non stick skillet and then add and cook the beef until browned.

Remove the tops, seeds and membranes from the bell peppers. Trim the bottom of each to allow them to stand in the pan. Place the peppers in a 9x13 pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, ground beef and onions,1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce and all remaining ingredients except for the cheese. Spoon an equal amount of this mixture into each bell pepper. Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top of each pepper.

Cover loosely with foil and bake 50 minutes in the oven. Remove foil and sprinkle with your favorite cheese. I use mozzarella, Monterrey Jack or pepperjack most of the time. Place back in the oven just until the cheese is melted, approximately 10 minutes. Enjoy!

* I also scraped out and stuffed a couple of pattypan squash to see how that would work. The taste was great, but they weren't as fully cooked as I would have liked. Next time, I'm going to steam them first to soften them.

FREEZER MEAL: Prepare the filling, let cool and transfer to a ziploc freezer bag or airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating or stuffing the filling into peppers to bake. This skillet recipe is a great option for a freezer meal with this filling as well. The cooked stuffed peppers can also be frozen once they have cooled. Place them in an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator prior to reheating the peppers in the microwave.