Stuffed peppers
Nov. 18th, 2011 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve11This was a "wing it" recipe. We had ground pork we had to use, and D. suggested some kind of spaghetti and I am trying not to eat starch, carbs, and processed flour and stuff (I know, I know, thanksgiving is going to RUIN that), and as I was driving home I thought, "well, my grandmother uses ground pork when she makes filled cabbage, I bet we could do stuffed peppers pretty well, and relatively low-carb."
I modified the meatball recipe I learned a few months back for the filling. Anyway, they turned out really well! So here is my recipe, so I don't forget it. Um, all measurements are approximate. I went with the option of not browning anything before cooking. It was pretty easy to do it that way and they came out pretty well.
3 large green bell peppers (they were really big)
~1/4 or maybe closer to 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
~20 Italian flavored large croutons, pulverized. (honestly I just used what was left in the bag I had, and yes, this is bread but it wasn't actually a lot)
4 fresh basil leaves, diced
about 1/4 cup diced sweet onion
1 to 2 tbsp of ketchup (1 good squirt from the squeeze bottle)
1 egg
salt and black pepper
Equal parts extra lean ground beef and ground pork totalling approx 1.5 lbs.
Sharp provolone cheese for a topping
Jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (we used a puttanesca)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all of the filling ingredients (everything above minus the green peppers, provolone and spaghetti sauce) into a big evenly mixed ball. It will be a little wetter than eg a burger patty would be, because of the egg and ketchup. Prep the peppers by slicing off the tops and removing the innards and ribs, and make sure that you can stand them up in a casserole dish (slice the bottoms of them flat if they are wobbly). Fill the peppers with the filling; it's okay to mash it in there and fill them all the way to the top.
coat the bottom of a casserole with a bit of olive oil so the peppers don't stick, then put the peppers in, standing up. You can even roll each pepper in the casserole dish to give it a coating of olive oil on its side. Sprinkle peppers with a little bit of salt and a few dollops of spaghetti sauce, and pour spaghetti sauce into the casserole to coat the bottom. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for approx. 50 minutes. Remove foil, top each pepper with provolone cheese, and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes or so, until a thermometer says the insides are up to temperature (well we just winged it; the insides looked light but that was because of the pork).
Remove from oven. Slice and serve topped with more spaghetti sauce from the casserole.
They had a lot of juices on the inside that spilled out when I first cut into mine. I wonder if I should put a few knife slats or holes in the bottom so that juice can flow out into the pan? OTOH I don't want to dry them out. Either way, they tasted really good. :)
I modified the meatball recipe I learned a few months back for the filling. Anyway, they turned out really well! So here is my recipe, so I don't forget it. Um, all measurements are approximate. I went with the option of not browning anything before cooking. It was pretty easy to do it that way and they came out pretty well.
3 large green bell peppers (they were really big)
~1/4 or maybe closer to 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
~20 Italian flavored large croutons, pulverized. (honestly I just used what was left in the bag I had, and yes, this is bread but it wasn't actually a lot)
4 fresh basil leaves, diced
about 1/4 cup diced sweet onion
1 to 2 tbsp of ketchup (1 good squirt from the squeeze bottle)
1 egg
salt and black pepper
Equal parts extra lean ground beef and ground pork totalling approx 1.5 lbs.
Sharp provolone cheese for a topping
Jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (we used a puttanesca)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all of the filling ingredients (everything above minus the green peppers, provolone and spaghetti sauce) into a big evenly mixed ball. It will be a little wetter than eg a burger patty would be, because of the egg and ketchup. Prep the peppers by slicing off the tops and removing the innards and ribs, and make sure that you can stand them up in a casserole dish (slice the bottoms of them flat if they are wobbly). Fill the peppers with the filling; it's okay to mash it in there and fill them all the way to the top.
coat the bottom of a casserole with a bit of olive oil so the peppers don't stick, then put the peppers in, standing up. You can even roll each pepper in the casserole dish to give it a coating of olive oil on its side. Sprinkle peppers with a little bit of salt and a few dollops of spaghetti sauce, and pour spaghetti sauce into the casserole to coat the bottom. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for approx. 50 minutes. Remove foil, top each pepper with provolone cheese, and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes or so, until a thermometer says the insides are up to temperature (well we just winged it; the insides looked light but that was because of the pork).
Remove from oven. Slice and serve topped with more spaghetti sauce from the casserole.
They had a lot of juices on the inside that spilled out when I first cut into mine. I wonder if I should put a few knife slats or holes in the bottom so that juice can flow out into the pan? OTOH I don't want to dry them out. Either way, they tasted really good. :)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-19 01:14 pm (UTC)