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Kilikini at wrote on 3/6/05 3:34 PM:

> My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of peppers!
> (Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas are rice,
> ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a tried and true
> to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!
>
> kili
>
>

I have two. These recipes were written down after I made them, based on
what I actually did. So they are definitely tried and true.

One uses raw meat in the crock pot, the other, pre-cooked in the oven.
They are essentially quite similar, ingredient-wise.

Where I've listed brands of tomato sauce, of course, that's what I use
because I like the flavor. Use the brand you like best, or use home-made.
Whatever works best for you. The idea is to use a well-seasoned tomato
sauce in either case. In the pre-cooked filling recipe, if you use a smooth
sauce, I would add a can of diced tomatoes, drained of all juice, which can
be added to the sauce mixture. The tomato pieces in the filling really are
essential, for look and taste.

Here ya go:

Baked Stuffed Peppers

3 large bell peppers
2 cups cooked white rice (I made extra yesterday knowing I was making this
today)
3/4 pound ground beef (no reason not to use turkey)
1 medium onion
1 jar Bertolli Olive Oil and Garlic spaghetti sauce (or other chunky tomato
sauce)
1 cup shredded "Italian 6 Cheese Blend" (mozzerella, provolone, romano,
parmesan, asiago, etc)
2 cloves garlic, minced
basil, oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 egg, well beaten

Wash and halve the peppers lengthwise, removing the core and all membranes.
Set aside.

Mince the onion and garlic. In a large skillet, heat the oil, reduce to
medium heat and saute the onion until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and
ground beef, and stir often, breaking the meat into small pieces. Season to
taste with salt and pepper.

Get a baking pan large enough for the six pepper halves. *Pour half the jar
of sauce through a strainer, letting the thin sauce land in the baking pan.
Take the chunks of tomatoes out of the strainer and add to the skillet. Stir
well. *Stir in the rice and the herbs, and mix well. Remove from heat.

Stir in half a cup of the shredded cheese. *Taste and adjust seasonings if
necessary. Then mix in the egg until well blended.

Add more sauce to the pan if desired. Refrigerate leftover sauce for future
use.

Spoon the stuffing mixture into the pepper halves, mounding slightly.
Arrange the pepper halves in the baking dish with the sauce. Add half a cup
of water to the bottom of the pan. *Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45
minutes at 400 degrees, until the peppers begin to soften.

Remove the foil, top each pepper with the remaining half a cup of cheese,
and let bake for 15 minutes more, until the cheese melts and is bubbly.

Serves 6.

I served this with a nice romaine, pear, orange, onion and toasted walnut
salad, as a first course, which I have made before to rave reviews with a
simple thin vinaigrette of walnut oil, white wine vinegar and orange juice
which I made with my hand blender. That was seasoned with just salt and lots
of cracked black pepper. *I layered the romaine on a platter, arranged the
fruit and onions on top of the bed of lettuce, and topped with the walnuts.
The dressing was served on the side. *My guests had never eaten a salad like
that and they enjoyed it a lot!
----

Stuffed Peppers in Crock Pot
Serves 4

1.35 lbs of 80% lean ground beef (that's what my package said)
1.5 cups of cooked white rice (3/4 cup rice, 1 cup water, cooked until
fluffy)
handful of grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
seasoned salt and black pepper (to taste)
2 big pinches of Italian herb seasoning blend
Garlic powder or dried minced garlic (I used the dried minced.... maybe half
a teaspoonful)
Onion flakes (about a tablespoonful)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (I used Del Monte from the can...use your favorite)

4 medium sized green peppers (about 4 inches tall, 3 inches wide, or more
smaller ones)

Combine the meat, seasonings, cooked rice, parmesan cheese and the 1/2 cup
of sauce. Mixture should be soft and moist, but hold together when shaped
into meatballs. Add more sauce by the spoonful if it seems dry, but try not
to make it too soft.

Cut the top off the peppers and remove the core from each pepper. Score the
bottom of each pepper by piercing with a knife in an x pattern. Reserve the
slices from the top of each pepper.

Stuff each pepper with the meat mixture. Fill to the top, but not
over-flowing.

If making ahead, stand the filled peppers up in a casserole dish, cover and
refrigerate. Also refrigerate the rest of the can or jar of tomato sauce
(about a 28 ounce can or jar).

When ready to cook, arrange the slices off the top of the peppers in the
bottom of the crock pot. Stand the stuffed peppers up on each slice,
resting them against the sides of the crock pot. Pour the sauce over the
top of the peppers. Rinse the can with about a quarter cup of water and
add that to the bottom of the pot. A bay leaf in the bottom wouldn't hurt,
either.

Cook on low heat for 5-5.5 hours, until the peppers are soft and the meat
cooked through.

This works really well in the crock pot.