Recipe: Easy Stuffed Peppers

I hadn’t made stuffed peppers in a couple years, perhaps because my last attempt was not stellar. But this time, I got them so right that requests for more stuffed pepper dinners followed. Here’s the easy and delicious recipe I used.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 2 cups water
• 6 bell peppers
• 2 cups homemade tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• salt
• pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the rice and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. (This partially cooks the brown rice).

In a skillet, brown the ground beef.

Prepare the peppers by slicing off the tops. Remove the seeds and membrane. (I like to use a melon scoop to clean them out efficiently).

Arrange the peppers in a baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the browned meat, the partially cooked rice, 1 cup of tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and spices. Divide the meat mixture among the peppers.

Pour the remaining cup of tomato sauce over the stuffed peppers.

Bake for about 1 hour in the preheated oven. Baste with sauce from the bottom of the baking dish. Peppers will be tender when finished.

This recipe was written by Jim and Janice Leach and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on Oct. 22, 2011.