Gluten-Free Stuffed Bell Peppers

My mom used to make stuffed bell peppers when I was a kid. To be honest I was not a huge fan at first but then I grew to LOVE them!!! Now my kids love them too, although I do usually make a double batch of the stuffing so they can eat it without the bell pepper shells. I cheat though, I dice up some bell peppers and put them right into the stuffing so they end up eating them anyways 🙂

Preheat oven to 375*F

Prepare the rice

Ingredients:

• 6 medium bell peppers, any color
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 anchovy fillets, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• 4 tablespoons white wine
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded or cut into small dice
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• basic tomato sauce or roasted red pepper soup, to serve

Directions:

1. Cute the tops off the peppers or cut in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and fibrous insides. Blanch the peppers in a large pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Remove, and stand upside down on racks to drain.
2. In a large frying pan brown the ground beef. Add diced onion and saute until soft. Stir in the anchovies, garlic, tomatoes and wine. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in the rice, parsley, mozzarella & 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
4. Pat the inside of the peppers dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Stuff the peppers. Sprinkle the tops with remaining 2 tbsp Parmesan & a little oil.
5. Arrange the peppers in a shallow baking dish. Pour in enough water to come 1/2 inch up the side of the peppers. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve at once, with tomato sauce or soup if desired. These peppers are also good at room temperature.

Vegan option – omit the ground beef and saute the onions in 3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Tip – my husband cannot do onions so I sub with 1 1/2 bell peppers, diced

Recipe adapted from The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia