Bell peppers stuffed with a savory mix of rice, ground beef, Parmesan, and herbs, baked until tender.
Peperoni ripieni are a staple of Italian home cooking, especially in central and southern Italy, where sweet bell peppers are hollowed out and packed with a rice or breadcrumb filling studded with ground meat, Parmesan, and herbs, then baked until the peppers soften and the filling turns golden on top. The technique hinges on partially cooking the rice before stuffing, since the peppers alone won't cook it through in the oven. A splash of tomato sauce poured around the peppers as they bake keeps everything moist and gives you a light sauce to spoon over at the table.
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds, standing them upright in a baking dish.
Heat olive oil in a skillet, sauté onion 5 minutes, add garlic for 1 minute, then brown the ground beef, breaking it up, about 8 minutes.
Combine cooked beef mixture with parboiled rice, Parmesan, parsley, egg, salt, and pepper.
Fill each pepper generously with the mixture, pressing down gently to pack it in.
Pour crushed tomatoes around the peppers in the dish. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes, then uncover and bake 15 more minutes until peppers are tender and tops are golden.
Baste peppers with the tomato sauce halfway through for extra moisture.
Let rest 5 minutes, then serve each pepper with the tomato sauce spooned over the top.
Parboil the rice for exactly 10 minutes — fully raw rice won't cook through in the oven, but fully cooked rice turns mushy.
Choose peppers that can stand upright on their own; trim a thin sliver off the bottom if needed to level them.
Baste the peppers with the surrounding tomato sauce partway through baking so the tops don't dry out.
Make it vegetarian by swapping ground beef for lentils or crumbled tofu.
Use ground turkey or Italian sausage instead of beef for a different flavor profile.
Add pine nuts and raisins to the filling for a Sicilian-influenced sweet-savory twist.
Refrigerate for up to 3 days; reheat in a covered dish at 180°C until warmed through, adding a splash of water or extra tomato sauce.
Stuffed vegetables are common across Mediterranean cooking, and in Italy, peperoni ripieni became a way to stretch small amounts of meat with rice or bread, a technique especially associated with home cooking in Rome, Naples, and Puglia.
Yes, assemble them fully a day ahead, refrigerate, and bake when ready, adding about 10 extra minutes to the covered baking time since they'll start cold.
The rice likely wasn't parboiled long enough before stuffing; give it a full 10 minutes in boiling water first so it finishes cooking in the oven.
Yes, freeze them baked or unbaked for up to 2 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating or finishing in the oven.
Per serving (380g / 13.4 oz) · 4 servings total
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