Italian Baked Stuffed Peppers
These Italian Baked Stuffed Peppers are a comforting, old-fashioned family recipe made with tender bell peppers filled with seasoned ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, and plenty of melted cheese. It’s a delicious way to turn leftover rice into a hearty meal, and the recipe is easy to customize with ground chicken, leftover roast chicken, quinoa, couscous, or beans. The peppers are roasted before filling, then baked until tender and the cheesy topping is golden and bubbling.
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil + 1 Tbsp. to coat the peppers before pre- roasting
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 Tbsp. minced garlic
- 4 cups marinara sauce
- 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 cup chopped spinach
- 1 egg
- 1 cup grated parmesan more to top the peppers
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Rub the bell peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 375 degree oven for 10- 15 minutes or until slightly soft.
- In a deep saute pan in 2 Tbsp. of olive oil, over medium high heat saute the onion and garlic until soft and jut beginning to brown. Add the ground beef and cook until the meat is brown. Then add the rice, stock and half of the marinara simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the fire and add the spinach, parsley, grated parmesan, egg and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well divide the filling among the 12 pre roasted bell pepper halves. Top with the remaining marinara, shredded mozzarella more grated parmesan . and bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 45 minutes. Top with chopped Italian parsley.