Stuffed Bell Peppers
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 4 large red peppers, halved lengthwise and deseeded
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (for brushing on pepper halves)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • ¾ cup wild rice
  • 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup shitake mushrooms, chopped
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 tbsp basil, chopped
  • 10 sprigs of thyme (leaves only)
  • 1 cup grated hard cheese (I used a 3 cheese blend of parmesan, pecorino and fontina) ⅔ for mixture plus ⅓ cup for topping
  • ⅓ cup panko bread crumbs for topping
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Half and deseed red peppers. Place cut side down on a baking dish and brush with olive oil and grind sea salt and pepper to taste. Cut an X in the middle of each pepper (about ½ inch to ¾ inch). Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, bring ¾ cup wild rice and 3 cups of wild rice to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cooking for 60-70 minutes. I usually remove it and drain it once the inner part of the wild rice begins to pop out of its hard casing. Drain and set aside.
  4. Coat a frying pan with a thin amount of olive oil. Add the shallots and garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Then add the shitake mushrooms and tomatoes to the pan. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes until the shitake mushrooms begin to brown and the tomatoes are softened and slightly blistery (but not to the point where they begin to break down). Set the veggies aside in a bowl.
  5. After removing from their casings, add the sausage crumbled to the pan and cook through until it begins to brown. About 5 minutes.
  6. Combine the veggies, sausage and rice together. Add ⅔ cup grated hard cheese, fresh basil and thyme and salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Stuff each pepper with the filling until it is nearly overflowing. You can make through this step several hours ahead of time and refrigerate.
  8. Heat oven to 375. Bake for 25 minutes. If you want to achieve a little extra brown to the top, switch to a broil for 2 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.
Recipe by Weekend Table at https://weekendtable.com/2012/08/20/stuffed-bell-peppers/