Quick stuffed peppers - Claudio style

There is a back story to this recipe. Years ago, we adopted a five year old boy who came to us all the way from Romania. Underweight, not even on the growth charts and definitely not used to American cuisine.

       Since he'd been through so much in his short life - leaving an orphanage, traveling so far to start a new life with a family, something he'd never had...we felt we should try and find out his food preferences as we helped him adjust. We also introduced him to  unfamiliar foods. We must have done something right because he was on the growth charts within 3 months (yay!) and has stayed there, neither overweight or underweight, ever since.  

       Now, years after his adoption, he still prefers many of his old favorites. This recipe is one of those.

        This is his favorite version of stuffed peppers and, as you can see, I don't use specific quantities of ingredients but adjust "to taste". There is nothing fancy about this recipe and it can be made quickly, especially if you make the sauce the night before and pre-blanch the peppers. You can even cook the whole recipe a night or two before serving. 

   Those that are into gourmet food or more elaborate stuffed peppers, especially versions containing rice,  will probably want to jazz this up and, believe me, I've tried many other versions but he still prefers this fairly simple one. See what you think and please...feel free to offer suggestions and your favorite version of stuffed peppers. Feel free to chime in, thanks. I'd like to find another stuffed pepper recipe that he likes.

     STUFFED PEPPERS CLAUDIO

INGREDIENTS:

5 or 6 Stuffed peppers - adjust quantity to number of people served

SAUCE: 

1  onion, chopped, or to taste

Favorite spaghetti sauce - 1 jar (I use Prego brand) about 16 ounce jar

sugar to taste

fresh or chopped basil and oregano to taste 

salt and pepper to taste 

1 pound of grond beef, more if you are using more peppers (if you are vegetarian, you can substitute tofu or other ingredients like soy crumbles to taste).  

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Slice tops off peppers, crosswise, acrosss the top. Gently take out the white, bitter rind and the seeds. Dispose of them.

2. Put peppers in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, just until tender-crisp, not soggy or completely done. 

3. Make sauce by gently cooking the onions and ground beef together. iAdd rest of sauce ingredients and simmer for as little as 20 minutes or as long as 2 hours, adding water as needed, on low (barely bubbling) temperature. 

4. Put a layer of sauce in the bottom of a glass pan that is just large enough to hold the peppers - so that they support each other and don't fall over.  Add peppers to pan and fill with sauce. Put tops back on peppers and cover with any extra sauce, if you have any. Cover pan with lid or foil and bake at 350 to 375 until peppers are cooked through and bubbly. You can top these with cheese and/or sour cream before serving, if desired. 

P.S. I have tried this with ground turkey but he didn't like it. However, it might have less fat if ground turkey were used.