Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers.... We love stuffed bell peppers. I think both my husband and I have great memories of eating stuffed peppers throughout our childhood days. We both liked the way our mothers made them...we added a dollop of sour cream on top. But, this version is a bit different in that it is baked rather than cooked on the stove top, uses turkey instead of beef and has a bit more rice for a lighter version. The stove top method makes the peppers extra soft. The peppers in this recipe have a bit more bite to them Hope you enjoy....

Ingredients: You can easily adjust the amount of rice and meat to suit your liking... and use tomato paste thinned out with water for the canned tomato sauce/ diced tomatoes... or use a mixture of tomato paste with grated fresh tomatoes.

• 3 large red/orange/yellow/green bell peppers
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup rice (used basmati rice for a fluffier filling)
• 10 oz ground turkey
• 16 oz can diced tomatoes
• 6 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup grated jack cheese
• salt/pepper to taste
• dill or parsley to taste

Directions:

1. You can cook the rice to have a head start. I use 1 cup of rice uncooked (the cup that comes with the rice cooker) and get approx. 2 cups cooked rice.

2. Wash peppers and cut in half lengthwise. (You can also leave them whole and cut off just the tops. Keep the tops as a "lid" by placing it on top of the filled peppers.) Take out seeds and membranes. Rinse to clean out all the seeds.

3. At this point, blanch peppers in salted boiling water for about 3-5 minutes or until softened. I skipped this step and left them raw.

4. Place about 1/3 of the cut up tomatoes on the bottom of your dish. You may add about 1/2 cup-1 cup water and mix with the tomatoes. Place the peppers on top of the sauce. Set aside.

5. Add olive oil to frying pan. Heat on med-low and add onion and garlic.

6. Saute for about 4-5 minutes or until soft. Lower the heat if you need to so as not to burn.

7. Add turkey, salt, pepper and dill/parsley.

8. Cook until turkey is cooked through and no longer pink.

9. Add rice and remainder of the diced tomatoes, and 1/2 can of tomato sauce.
10. Mix and combine. Turn off heat. Fill bell peppers with rice mixture. Top with a tablespoon or so of the leftover tomato sauce.

11. Cover with foil and bake in a 375 deg F. preheated oven for about an hour (test and see how soft you want the bell peppers to be halfway through the cooking time... and leave them in a bit longer if you wish)... uncover ...bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle some cheese the last minute or so of the baking time.