On the cajun prairie, we like to stuff our foods with other foods. It’s not uncommon to see stuffed pork chops, stuffed chaudin, stuffed fish… well, the list can go on and on. What can we say? We like blended flavors. Not only do we stuff our meats with other meats, we stuff our vegetables, too. Here’s a look at one of my favorites. The Stuffed Bell Pepper. I’m getting hungry just writing this. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 4 medium bell peppers (any color will do)
• 2 tbsp. Canola oil or bacon drippings
• 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• Bread crumbs (homemade toasted bread works fine, make sure it isn’t lumpy though)
• 1 clove garlic – pressed or minced
• 1 can Roi-Tel tomatoes
• 1 lb. Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage
• Salt and pepper and cayenne pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• dash of dried basil
• 1/2 tsp of oregano
• Tabasco sauce to taste – of course!
• 2 tbsps Shredded cheese of your choice (Parmesan, cheddar, etc.)
• Butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Boil peppers for 5 minutes. Drain all water out of peppers. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except peppers. Saute everything except the bell pepper, cheese and butter Cut tops and seeds and wash peppers making sure cavity of bell pepper is clean of any residue. Stuff the bell peppers.( I like to keep them whole while other folks like to cut them in half.) Add bread crumbs and cheese, then add a little dab of butter on top. Put into greased casserole dish or pan Cook for 25-30 minutes.

C’est bon!

[ad]
Thanks to Lalo Martins for the bell pepper pics.
Some rights reserved.