Stuffed Peppers

Four colorful peppers and an heirloom tomato provided the inspiration for this recipe.

I stole the recipe for the filling from my grandmother, who used the same in her Golabkis. 

I stole the idea for cutting the peppers lengthwise from Chef John, who opines that this is a much better way to serve this dish as it "improves the meat to pepper ratio."  It also provides twice as many servings from your peppers...

The idea for topping off the dish with a slice of vine ripened heirloom tomato with parmesan cheese came from the Tomato itself - As I was thinking of how to finish the dish, I noticed it proudly sitting on the counter.  I think I actually heard it say "You've got to work me into this Dish!"

Prep Time:  20 Minutes

Cook Time:  1 Hour and 15 Minutes

Servings:  8

Ingredients:

Four large peppers - any color

1 pound of "Meatloaf Mix" ground meat - Beef, Pork, and Veal

1 onion chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/2 cup partially cooked rice (or) 1 cup fully cooked barley

1 egg

1-1/2 cups freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Divided

1 tablespoon butter

salt and pepper

2 to 3 cups of Homemade marinara sauce 

Method:

• Partially Cook the rice and then immediately cool - about 8 minutes.
• Cut the peppers in half and discard the stem, seeds, and any large ribs.
• Saute the onion in the butter until softened and slightly carmelized, let cool.
• Poor the marinara into the bottom of a large deep casserole dish.
• Combine the cooled onions, meat, egg, rice, seasoning, and 1 cup of the cheese.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Evenly divide the meat mixture amongst the peppers.  It is OK if the filling goes a little  beyond the boundaries of the pepper - the egg in the filling will keep that under control as it bakes.

• Place the peppers into casserole dish and top each with a 1/4" thick slice of tomato
• Evenly divide the rest of the cheese and place atop each tomato
• Garnish cheese with freshly chopped parsley
• Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 20-30 minutes, or until the peppers are very tender and the cheese is golden brown.
• Let rest for 10 minutes or so and then serve.

Recipe Links:

Here is a video recipe from Chef John where I got the idea for cutting the peppers lengthwise.

Here is another non-video version of the same recipe.

And, of course, here's a link to the original golabki recipe.