Pizza-Stuffed Bell Peppers
Here’s a dinner that’s full of color and flavor. Throw in every color of bell pepper for delicious variety. The combination of meat sauce, peppers and cheese make it hard to decide if it's salty or sweet, and the quinoa adds extra texture and protein and brings everything together. You will walk away from this meal feeling satisfied.
Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers
5 bell peppers
1 onion
1 carrot
1 clove garlic
1 lb ground beef
1 large can tomatoes
1/3 cup quinoa
1 cup water
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Balsamic vinegar
Oregano
Basil
Salt
Pepper
Preheat oven to 375° F
Trim out stem (getting as close as you can so you leave as much flesh as possible) and cut peppers in half lengthwise
Place peppers in baking dish with the inside of the pepper halves facing down so that the water doesn’t pool in them
Bake peppers for 10-15 minutes or until the flesh is soft
While peppers are baking prepare sauce and quinoa
Bring 1 cup water to a boil on the stovetop
Rinse quinoa and then add to boiling water. Cover the pot and turn down to medium heat and then allow to cook for about 10 minutes or until the outside looks like it has cracked open. Then drain any excess water and spread out on a plate or tray to allow to fluff up
Finely chop 1 onion and 1 clove of garlic
Bring a pan with about ½ olive oil to a medium heat
Add onion and garlic to pan with olive oil and allow to sweat until soft
Grate 1 large carrot into pan with onion and garlic
Add ground hamburger to the pan with vegetables and cook until no longer pink
Season with basil, oregano, pepper and a tiny pinch of salt
Once the meat is cooked through, add a large can of tomatoes* (I prefer to blend mine before adding, but feel free to add them straight if you like chunks of tomato in your sauce)
Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and season to taste. Then allow to simmer on a medium low heat
Once the peppers have finished baking and have been removed from the oven, flip them over so the insides of the peppers are facing up
Put a small spoonful of sauce in the bottom of each pepper half
Sprinkle a little cheese in each one
Add a generous spoonful of quinoa to each pepper
Fill the rest of the space in the pepper with sauce
Top with mozzarella cheese, a sprinkle of quinoa, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of dried basil (or add fresh as a garnish after broiling
Broil for about 3 minutes or until the cheese on top just starts to turn golden
*Canned tomatoes tend to have quite a bit of salt, so be cautious when adding salt
