New Math for Stuffed Bell Peppers: Half was Twice as Good

Here's a video recipe of the new and improved stuffed bell peppers. I posted the written recipe a little while back, but wanted to provide a video tutorial also. There have been some significant and shocking changes, so I hope you're sitting down.

The peppers are now cut in half lengthwise, so that the meat/rice-to-pepper ratio is much more in our favor. The bad news is you must find evenly sized, and boxy shaped peppers so the halves cook evenly, but the good news is I just doubled your number of servings.

Also in this version we chose to use the classic green bell pepper. This recipe's roots can be traced back to the Great Depression, when farmers first began selling the unripe peppers out of necessity. Of course, we did what Americans always do when faced with a new variety of food, we stuffed meat in it.

I'll have to admit, I bowed to conventional wisdom, and called for the sweeter red bell in the cookbook, but as any true stuffed bell pepper aficionado will tell you, green is the money pepper. The bitterness of the green pepper serves as a perfect foil to the tangy, but subtly sweet stuffing.

Finally, after several attempts, you have here the final official Food Wishes stuffed bell pepper recipe. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• For the sauce:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 cups prepared marinara sauce, or other tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
• For the peppers:
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/4 pound hot Italian pork sausage, casings removed
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup finely grated "real" Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, minced very fine
• 1 can 10-oz diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• pinch of cayenne
• 4 large green bell peppers