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stuffed red pepper half on white plate sprinkled with parsley
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Italian Stuffed Peppers with Meat and Rice

My mother's stuffed peppers are the best stuffed peppers. Filled with ground meat, rice, breadcrumbs and cheese these are a perfect side dish.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Sicilian-Italian
Keyword stuffed peppers, Italian style peppers, meat and cheese stuffed peppers
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 8 pepper halves
Calories 333kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 large bell peppers

For the filling:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 796 ml can of diced tomatoes
  • 250 grams ground meat (trio of beef, veal, and pork)
  • 2 1/2 cups day old bread crusts removed
  • 1 cup cooked white rice (or 1/3 cup raw rice)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese and Pecorino cheese, combined
  • 1 small clove garlic finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 large egg
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Cut each pepper in half, remove the stems and seeds. Boil for about 5 minutes then set aside to cool.

For the tomato sauce:

  • In a medium sized sauce pan, heat the olive oil. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the diced tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper, to taste

For the filling

  • In a small skillet brown the meat until no longer pink, add salt to taste. Transfer to a large bowl.
  • Tear bread (without the crusts) into small pieces (or alternately process in food processor) and add to the meat along with the rice, Parmesan and Pecorino grated cheese, garlic, parsley, egg and salt and pepper to taste.
  • Stir in 3/4 cup of the prepared tomato sauce. Combine all ingredients well.

To assemble and bake

  • Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a baking dish.
  • Divide the stuffing evenly amongst the 8 pepper halves and place on a greased baking pan. Top each pepper with a tablespoon of tomato sauce and a light sprinkling of extra grated cheese, if desired.
  • Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until tender. Serve hot.

Notes

 

While most recipes for stuffed peppers use raw peppers, my mother always boils the peppers first in order to soften them. This is really a matter of personal taste and you can opt not to precook them. 
The great thing about this stuffing recipe is that it can also be used to stuff other veggies such as eggplants or zucchini, as my mother often does.
You can also use leftover cold rice for the filling
Brown rice may also be substituted for white.
You'll probably have extra tomato sauce after using what's required in this recipe. So why not make some pasta with tomato sauce to serve alongside the peppers? Alternately, you can freeze it for future use.
These stuffed peppers can be prepared in advance and simply reheated before serving.
For a vegetarian version, omit the meat and add extra breadcrumbs or rice.
I usually use a combination of Pecorino and Parmigiano grated cheese in my recipes, but you can use only one type if you prefer.

Nutrition

Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 524mg | Potassium: 513mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 2151IU | Vitamin C: 88mg | Calcium: 187mg | Iron: 4mg