I've never been a big fan of green peppers until a couple of years ago. I really enjoy them now and love the smell of them cooked. I normally stuff bell peppers upright and cook them in the oven but since it's summer most I try to cook everything on the grill instead of the oven. My small kitchen can't handle the heat!
I split these in half and laid them on their sides on the grill instead of upright mainly because I wanted a charred skin on the bell peppers. The end result was delicious.
Grilled Italian Stuffed Peppers
Recipe by: Simply Fit Mama
- 4 green peppers
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 8 oz. package of mushrooms, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1lb ground beef
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes--if you want a little kick
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- Fresh mozzarella slices--I did not have any and just used a cheese blend but mozzarella slice on top would be superb!
Heat a pan on the stove to a medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp of the oil once the pan is hot. Now add the onions and let them cook until translucent and soft, a couple of minutes. Add the chopped mushrooms to the onions and let them cook until they reduce in size, about 4 minutes. Now you can add the garlic let it cook for another minute with the veggie mixture. Pull the pan off the heat and transfer the veggie mixture to a bowl.
Place the pan back onto the stove and let it heat up again. Add the rest of the oil and brown the ground beef. While the beef is cooking start prepping your green peppers. Cut them in half. Then you need to remove the stem, seeds and ribs of the pepper. When you are finished with that lightly salt and pepper the insides of the peppers. Your ground beef should be almost done.
Heat your grill to a medium heat. Once the ground beef is cooked add the veggie mix back and add all of the seasonings and tomato sauce, mix well. Also make sure to salt and pepper to taste.
Stuff each pepper accordingly with the meat. I make sure to under stuff the kids peppers because they don't eat as much as we do and the extra goes to waste. Once the peppers are stuffed add your desired cheese on top ( I hope you pick fresh mozzarella!) then take them to the grill.
Now that the grill is nice and hot turn the heat all the way to low. Place the peppers on the top rack, close and come back in 8-10 minutes to pull them off the grill. If you don't have a top rack turn the heat off on one side of your grill and put the peppers on the unheated side but keep the heat on the other side closer to medium.
Another easy way to enjoy these peppers is to use leftover spaghetti with meat sauce instead of having more leftover spaghetti.
Enjoy!
