Stuffed Bell Peppers

I have to say, this is one of my personal favorite recipes.  And, yet another one I remember having often when I was a kid.  They were served often in our house, although I've modified them somewhat, making them a bit healthier to eat!  Again, very easy to prepare and very filling and nutritious!  A bit of Italian flavor!

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)
4 Large Green Bell Peppers (nice ones with flat bottoms on them)
1 Pound Ground Turkey (okay....hamburger, if you must!  Turkey is healthier and tastes great!)
2 Cups Steamed Rice
2 Eggs
1 Tablespoon dried Italian Seasoning
16 Ounce Jar Spaghetti Sauce (or Tomato Sauce, if you prefer)
1 Small White Onion

PREPARATION
Slice the tops off the Bell Peppers and remove the seeds and wash them inside and out.  Save the tops you cut off to use, as well.  Place the Bell Peppers and tops into a large stock pot of water and boil them.  Boil until they turn a lighter green in color and are somewhat soft.

In a large bowl, add the ground turkey, steamed rice, eggs and Italian seasoning.  Finely dice the onion and add that to the mix, as well.  Mix the ingredients in the bowl, making sure you have mixed them together thoroughly.

NOTE:  Ground turkey is much lower fat than hamburger and once the sauce and other ingredients are added and cooked, you will hardly notice a difference.  Except that you have less grease.  I use ground turkey in many dishes that call for ground meat.  In fact, I use very little red meat in cooking.  Once you have most of the red meat out of your diet, you find that it really has a strong taste and is much more difficult to digest.  I strongly recommend that you give ground turkey a try and see if you don't find that it works well for you, too!

Now, begin adding the Spaghetti Sauce or Tomato Sauce, mixing until you have a nice, "wet" mixture.  Save some of the sauce to put on top of the peppers before cooking.

Carefully place the boiled Bell Peppers into a baking pan or dish, making sure you don't tear or break them.  Stuff each Bell Pepper with the rice and ground turkey mixture, packing it down well in the peppers.  Fill each Bell Pepper right up to the top.  If you have any of the mix left, put it in the baking dish, as well, packing it so you have something like a small meat loaf.  A nice extra you can use with the leftover.

When the peppers are stuffed, pour a little sauce over the top, then put the Bell Pepper top back on each pepper.  Again, just pour a bit of the leftover sauce on top of the Bell Pepper top.  If you had leftover ground turkey/rice mix you put in the baking dish, pour some of the leftover sauce on top of it, as well.

Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees, then put the baking dish into the oven and bake for 45 -50 minutes.  Remove the stuffed peppers from the oven and allow to sit for about 10 minutes, as they are really HOT inside!  Serve and enjoy!!!  Some nice slices of garlic toast go well with the stuffed peppers!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at: stan.kain@gmail.com  You are also welcome to subscribe to my Recipe Blog so you get the latest recipes I add!