STUFFED BELL PEPPERS
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
4 bell peppers (Try to find ones that naturally stand up straight. Red and orange hold up the best.)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 yellow onion
1 jar of arrabbiata tomato sauce
1 jalapeño
1 lb ground beef (80% lean)
1 tsp garlic
Stubb’s beef rub
Garlic salt
Pepper
1 Zucchini or squash
Handful of parsley
DIRECTIONS
1) Chop and sauté half the yellow onion in a pan on medium heat with olive oil, until translucent about 10 minutes.
2) Preheat the oven to 400. Take out the seeds and white parts of the jalapeno then chop, add to the pan.
3) Push the onion and jalapeno mixture to one side of the pan, leaving room in the middle for the ground meat. Add a touch more olive oil to coat the pan so the meat doesn’t stick. Then add the meat to the middle of the pan and cook one side on medium high until browned (about 5 minutes). Don’t stir yet. Add in 1 tsp garlic, 1T Stubb’s beef rub, 1 tsp garlic salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Then break up the meat with a spatula and mix with the onion and jalapenos.
4) Then add in 1 chopped zucchini or squash, depending on your preference, and 1/2 cup tomato sauce. It adds a good texture and you can barely taste it, so why not add in more veggies! Cook on medium heat for another 5 minutes.
5) Prep your bell peppers – cut off the tops and take out seeds and all white parts. Stand each pepper up in a nonstick pan. I use a loaf pan so the peppers are wedged in next to each other and stand up straight.
6) Spoon the meat mixture into each bell pepper filling it almost to the top. Sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on top of each pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.
7) While the peppers are cooking, chop a handful of parsley to garnish the top of each bell pepper with before serving. Enjoy!