I’ve always wanted to make stuffed bell peppers. . I’ve seen so many recipes and read through a few and so here is my take on stuffed bell peppers (adapted from the Cooking Channel).
These are large enough to be a meal so if you’re thinking appetizer or something smaller, you can split the portions.
Stuffed Green Bell Peppers
INGREDIENTS
- 5-6 large green bell peppers (feel free to use red, orange or hey, even yellow!)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups orzo pasta
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 cups water
- 2 turkey or chicken sausages chopped* (can substitute with ground beef or pork)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 small sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 5-6 small mushrooms, chopped (I used cremini mushrooms)
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce (I used Prego)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese or crumbled feta cheese
* Here are the chicken sausages I used. For vegetarian stuffed bell peppers, omit the sausages.
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.Remove the tops from the peppers and scoop out the seeds and ribs. Carefully trim the bottoms if necessary to make peppers stand straight when upright. Place a steamer rack over a few inches of boiling water, or set a colander over a couple of inches boiling water in a large stock pot. Place the peppers in the steamer and cover. Steam 10 minutes, and remove to a baking dish or casserole.
Chop all of your vegetables (onion, yellow bell pepper, mushrooms etc) and the sausage. I removed the casing from the sausage; totally up to you on whether or not you want to do that. Remember, you are using all of this as your filling/stuffing for the bell peppers so you want everything chopped pretty small. Place everything into a big bowl and mix.
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the orzo and brown lightly, and then add 1/2 the garlic and stir. After 30 seconds stir in the water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook 15 minutes.
When the orzo is ready, pour it into the bowl with your veggies and the sausage. Season with the rosemary, 2 tablespoons parsley, and salt and pepper.
Overstuff the peppers with the filling. Drizzle about 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil over the peppers, pouring about 1 tablespoon over top of each. Arrange the peppers in a casserole or small baking dish and roast 50 minutes to 1 hour, until crispy at the edges and everything is cooked through.
I only filled 3 bell peppers and just cooked up the rest of the orzo, sausage and vegetable mix. If you have left over, simply stir fry in a pan with some olive oil.
Heat the tomato sauce about 2-3 minutes before the bell peppers are ready. Then, pour into your serving dish and immediately after the bell peppers have come out of the oven, place onto the dish and top with mozzarella cheese and parsley! Serve immediately while the peppers are still HOT!
