{Stuffed Bell Peppers}

I had never had stuffed bell peppers until about three weeks ago, although I had seen recipes for them in numerous recipe books and online recipe websites.  One day, Seth randomly asks me, "Hey, do you think you could make stuffed bell peppers?"  I wondered, had he been reading my mind and the Everyday Paleo recipe book?  Sarah Fragoso had a recipe in there, and I thought it looked quite intriuging and that I should try it sometime.  

I laughed, "Sure!"  Now to get down to making that recipe sooner than I had originally planned! =)

Here are pictures from the first two times I've made this... the recipe is in full at the very end.  Also, I will highlight the differences I made to the original recipe that was in the Everyday Paleo book. =)  

 Celery, Carrots, Onion, Mushrooms, lots of Garlic, diced Tomatoes, hot sauce {Franks is our favorite}, Salt, Pepper, and of course... the whole peppers =)   

The second time I made these, I combined everything together, and dumped it into the cooked meat, to cook the veggies... however, I made it according to the recipe the first time and sooo see picture below =)

Original steps in the recipe are to saute the carrots, onion, garlic, and celery.  Once they've soften a bit, add the other veggies and meats.  What I had to add:  zucchini, mushrooms, and fresh diced tomatoes!  

Veggies mixed in with the (cooked) sausage and hamburger meat. \

I just love how the steam is rising around the bell pepper boast! =)

After the picture I did submerge them and cooked them for between 5-8/10 minutes, depending upon how soft you desire them.  

Note: the longer they cook in the boiling water, the easier they may break when filling them... so just be cautious! =)  

FILL 'er UP!!!  

Lids on, a dash of water in the bottom of your baking pan, and then into the oven for 20 minutes! =)

And.... ta'da!  

Delicious, amazing Stuffed Bell Peppers

 Curious what they look on the inside?!  Here's a half-way cross cut =)  

 I never thought stuffed bell peppers would become one of my favorites... but they really are delicious, and these, without rice or other grains, are scrumptiously healthy for you!  =)

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Prep time: 30 minutes+

Cook time:  40 minutes total

Serves: 5-6

4 Tbs extra-virgin Olive Oil
1 yellow Onion ( or white or whatever you have =) finely chopped
3 Celery stalks, finely chopped
2-3 Carrots, finely diced
1.5 lbs Italian Pork Sausage, Cooked
1 lb. ground Beef, Cooked
1 Tbs dried Oregano
1 Tb Garlic Powder
Sea salt, and Black Pepper to taste
1 Tb Hot Sauce, optional
1 yellow Crookneck Squash, or 1-3 sm Zucchini, chopped
3 cups fresh Basil, chopped, or use dried basil, 1-2 Tbs.
1 (14.5oz) can Diced Tomatoes, or fresh tomatoes, chopped
5-6 Bell Peppers

1.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Fill a large soup pot with water and bring to a boil.
2. Cook the Italian sausage and ground beef in separate pans. Set aside.
3.  Pour the olive oil in a large saute pan or soup pot, and over medium heat saute the onion, celery, and carrots until the onions become transparent.
4.  Crumble in the {cooked} sausage and ground beef and add the dried seasonings and the hot sauce.
Optional steps 2-4:  Saute the onion,  celery, and carrots with olive oil in a large saute pan or soup pot.  Crumble in the sausage and ground beef (uncooked) and add the dried seasonings, hot sauce, and do step 5, then cook 'til meat is thoroughly cooked and the zucchini is soft/starting to look transparent.
5.  Add the yellow crookneck squash or zucchini, basil, and tomatoes.  Mix well and let the veggies and meat cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for another 10-15 minutes, or 'til the zucchini is softened.
6.  In the meantime, remove just the tops of the bell peppers, cut out/rinse out the seeds...
7.  Place the  bell peppers gently into the boiling water and submerge boiling for 5-8 minutes, until peppers are soft but not falling apart.
8.  Pull the bell peppers out with tongs, and arrange in a glass baking dish {dash of water in the bottom}.  Stuff each bell pepper with the meat mixture, {while stuffing, boil the tops of the bell peppers for "lids"}, top with the pepper "lids", and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Note:  I like adding fresh minced garlic, and diced fresh mushrooms as we love the baby bella mushrooms from Costco.  Also, if you're not going strictly paleo, add a {smidgin} of grated cheese and melt at the very end of baking time =)  Another thing, this truly makes at least 6 servings!  Perhaps even more, as I've tried to cut the recipe in half both times and it made way more than 3 stuffed bell peppers!  My guess is that it fills more like 7-8 =)

~enjoy~