Savory Stuffed Peppers

Growing up my mom cooked an array of meals, but I was most excited about food from her homeland Syria.  She would sprinkle in Syrian dishes when she had extra time on her hands since most recipes were time intensive.  I loved everything and anything she made middle eastern in nature, unless it had walnuts or rose water.  Those may literally be the only two things on the planet I won’t eat.  Well, I’m sure there are more, but these are the two most common things on the planet that I won’t eat.

One Syrian dish I love is stuffed zucchinis and peppers.  I remember my Teta (Grandma) and mom carving out the inside of zucchinis to stuff them with a rice and meat mixture.  Same for the bell peppers, but they were much easier to prepare; just slice the tops off and fill to the brim.  Both veggie vessels would be placed in a large pot, topped with a tomato sauce, and cooked until everything was tender.  If I think hard enough, I can even smell the dish’s perfume filling the kitchen and house.

I’ve made this dish before, minus the zucchini (I always somehow pierce through the skin), and vary my stuffing.  My mixture is basically whatever I have on hand that needs to be used.  This week’s stuffing included ground beef, rice, garlic, black olives, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and fresh rosemary, but honestly anything will work, so raid your fridge and stuff away!

Ingredients:

4 red bell peppers

1 cup of cooked rice

1 lb of ground beef sautéed

1 pint of cherry tomatoes 🍅 halved

1 can of black olives halved     

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons of minced fresh rosemary

2 garlic cloves minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together until blended well.  Cut the tops off the peppers and fill with mixture.  Replace peppers with tops and place on a glass pan or ceramic dish.  Cook in the oven about 20-25 minutes. 

Wine 🍷 to pair?

I say go with a light red like a grenache, even though we have ground beef in the dish.   It’s still a light version of a red meat so it doesn’t need a super bold red.  Cheers!