Stuffed Peppers

Growing up we always had a "second dish". Meaning that first dish would be soup, or macaroni, or beans and pasta and it would be followed by some kind of second dish. Stuffed peppers were one of those second dishes.

I know we have all seen the colorful bell peppers with their tops cut off, stuffed with rice, yeah, we don't do those kind of stuffed peppers. Our peppers are made using cubanelle peppers, which have a much thinner flesh than bell peppers and are typically yellowish-green in color. My rule is when you are at the market and the cubanelles look good, put stuffed peppers on your weeknight menu. Not only are stuffed peppers are quick meal, you get another meal by reserving the tops for peppers and eggs.

I remember over the summer at our 4th of July barbecue, mom made stuffed peppers and someone asked "what are they stuffed with?" and my cousin simply answered "they're stuffed peppers, you'll like them". And so will you and here is our recipe for stuffed peppers....

Makes 8 peppers

8 small/medium size cubanelle washed, tops cut off and seeded
1 lb ground beef (I use the 93% lean)
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1/4 cup plain breadcrumb
1 egg
salt and pepper
oil for cooking

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking dish with a brush of olive oil. In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the garlic clove. Using a microplane, grate the garlic over the mixture ensuring to tap an excess that remains on the microplane. Season with salt and pepper. Mix ingredients until all ingredients are incorporated. Don't over mix the meat as it will get tough. Now the fun begins, fill the peppers by carefully stuffing each one with the ground beef mixture. Don't over fill them, as the meat will come out during the baking process. Place the peppers into the prepared dish and drizzle oil on top. Cook covered with tin foil for 40 minutes, then remove the tinfoil and cook for 20 more minutes. The flesh of the peppers with brown and be tender. Serve these with crusty bread for soaking up all the goodness left in the pan. Enjoy!