I can't remember if I've ever had stuffed peppers besides the couple of times I've made them, unless you count chiles rellenos. They always seemed deeply unappealing: dingy green overcooked bell peppers, greasy ground beef and tomato sauce. I guess I don't have any positive associations with this dish, but you don't have to venture too far outside the box to realize that you can put anything in peppers; they're pretty handy containers for all kinds of goodies.I have three little peppers from my aunt and some leftover orzo I don't know what to do with. Ah, the perfect pair! I also picked up some mushrooms, a mix of a few shiitakes and criminis, and tossed in some onion and garlic borrowed from my tomato salad.
I cut the tops off the bell peppers and blanched them. I brought my water to a boil, salted it, then dropped in the peppers for about two minutes, then removed them and cooled them. I'm not a fan of overcooked green peppers, but because all my ingredients will be pre-cooked, I wanted to shorten the oven time.
I used the same blanching water to cook the orzo. Meanwhile, I sauteed the mushrooms, onion, and garlic in a little olive oil. I mixed the pasta and mushrooms together, tasted for seasoning (something I'm learning to do), then stuffed my three peppers. Bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes. Really, that's all it took for me.
My mom makes the best stuffed peppers. She mixes the ground beef with fresh onions, tomatoes and garlic. Then she adds Mexican Rice mix (the one you buy at the grocery store)... the rice and beef combo is perfect.
ReplyDeleteWe usually make this when we have leftovers (like you do) so sometimes we'll have spaghetti sauce and other times we'll throw in mushrooms and carrots. When we throw the peppers in the oven we always make sure to add some cheese on top!