Friday, February 25, 2011

Stuffed Bell Peppers on Marinara Sauce


Where do you get your inspirations for cooking? This is the question frequently asked from newly made friends. When I started to cook, I always have this mentality from my parents that we should buy ingredients when it is only on special. It helps narrowing down my decision of which dish that I should create.  SOSCuisine is the ultimate reference website for Canadians to seek out deals of the week of all the supermarkets in your hometown. Pretty convenient, isn't it?

It does happen that I lack of inspirations especially if I have to respect the cooking theme. Just for a heads-up, the cooking theme for tonight will be any dish that are "stacked", "skewed" or "layered" like crostinis, brochettes, lasagnas and mille-feuille. I usually end up going through my pile of cookbooks or food blogs for inspirations. I usually tweak the recipe according to what's available in my fridge and my pantry.


Nothing beats the good old taste of home cooked food especially for this stuffed bell peppers, a classic North American dish. It is essentially meatloaf inside a bell pepper. These bell peppers are usually baked with a coating of olive oil or a pool of sauce. I decided that my sauce should be the classic Italian American marinara sauce.

Serves 6
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Baking Time: about 60 mins, depending on the size of the bell peppers
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

6 bell peppers, any colour

Marinara Sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, liquid drained
1 can (14 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Salt and pepper

Stuffing
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Worchestshire sauce
1 1/2 lb ground meat (I use 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground pork)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
Salt and Pepper
Mozzarella cheese

Procedure

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.

2. Meanwhile, cut the tops off the bell peppers. Chop edible part of tops and set aside. Remove seeds in cold water. Submerge bell peppers in boiling water and cook for 5 mins until the flesh has slightly softened. Drain peppers and set aside to cool.


3. Preheat oven to 350F.

4. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sauté bell peppers from tops, onion, celery for about 5 mins, until onions are translucent.


5. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 mins.


6. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine egg, Worcestershire sauce, ground meat and Parmesan. Mix in cooked rice and 1 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Season with salt and pepper.


7. Stuff peppers with meat mixture and place in a 13'' x 9'' baking pan. Create a 1/2-inch hole in the middle of the stuffing to ensure even cooking. Pour the remaining tomato mixture over the stuffed peppers.


8. Bake for 60 mins. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese on top of the stuffed peppers before bell peppers are done. Bake until cheese has melted. Serve.

27 comments:

  1. Ellerinize sağlık. Çok güzel ve iştah açıcı görünüyor.

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  2. I made something similar but stuffed in brinjals.

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  3. Very addictive and inviting stuffed bellpeppers..

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  4. This looks wonderful. I love stuffed peppers and yours look so delicious!

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  5. Delicious recipe, we have a Romanian traditional recipe very similar to this one...thank you for the SOScuisine link, it's very helpful :)

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  6. I would love those stuffed sweet peppers with some tagliatelle!

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  7. coloré et appétissant, j'en raffole
    bonne journée

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  8. Vibrant colors and looks tasty too...

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  9. Stuffed bell peppers is a warm, comforting meal. I grew up eating this meal often.

    Cheers.
    Velva

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  10. I love all these flavours, they remind me of my chilhood!

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  11. Haven't made stuffed peppers in years. Yours look so tempting; I can almost taste them.
    Rota

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  12. Those stuffed bellpeppers look beautiful...! I can even imagine eating them with rice ;).

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  13. My ideas are wildly undisciplined. I really like the peppers you are featuring today. I tend to make them only in the summer because peppers here are quite expensive at this time of year. Your peppers sound delicious. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  14. Hi Victor! Thanks for stopping by my blog! Yolu gave me the chance to meet you as well. We stuff bell peppers too in Greece mainly with rice or a combination of rice and ground beef and many herbs! Your tweak looks very appetizing as well.

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  15. That's a classic, Victor. I haven't made it in ages and always loved it too. Excellent recipe and a good reminder to serve it soon!

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  16. Victor its my pleasure to be here. So much interesting. If u get time pls visit my blog too.. http://arjunphysiologist.blogspot.com .. nd one more thing I followed u too. wen ever updates come I will be here. Le me try some cuisines.. :)))

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  17. this looks great :-) so did you have your smoothie?

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  18. Hi Victor, this looks delicious! By the way, I have a contest giveaway on my blog you might find fun. Take a look. triumphandtears.blogspot.com

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  19. This looks awesome. i love stuffed bell peppers, that marinara sauce is die for.

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  20. They look great - I love stuffed peppers.

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  21. This is so delicious especially with melting cheese topping.

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  22. Interesting: I never boiled the peppers before stuffing them. Do you think that it better than just baking them?

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  23. Sounds delicious, carbs, meat and veges all in one, nice!

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  24. hi, good idea to stuff the cooked rice in there!

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