Turkey Stuffed Peppers

After being a poor contributor in the past, I have decided to try to actually do something about that. It seems to be easier to make writing down what I cook a point since I don't do much these days except, well, be at home doing home stuff. I think cooking falls in that category! Last night I made a variation of a stuffed peppers recipe after reading about 4 or 5 different recipes, none of which appealed to me. The last time I made stuffed peppers of any kind, it was with Stove Top stuffing and probably about 5 years ago? The ex-boyfriend didn't like rice--should have known then that it wasn't meant to be. Anyway, onto the main event!

Ingredients:
5  bell peppers (can use any you prefer, red or yellow, etc. I used green)
1  lb Italian seasoned ground turkey
1  small onion
2  jalapenos (optional)
2  to 3 cloves of garlic, more to your liking
1/2 cup uncooked white rice
2  to 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2 cups but think 3 would be better)
2  8 ounce cans tomato sauce
Olive oil 

The spices I hardly measure, but did my best to keep track. You can tweak the amounts if needed:
Salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper)
About 1/2 teaspoon or so of Paprika
1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper (Joe and I like a little kick but this is optional as well)

Directions: Place rice in a pot with about a cup of water and cook until water is absorbed. Meanwhile, chop off the tops of the peppers and gut them. Rinse and set aside. Dice the onion and jalapenos, and finely chop the garlic. For less spice, remove all seeds and insides from jalapenos.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add the chopped goodies and garlic. Saute for about 2/3 minutes. Add ground turkey to the pan. Cook until no longer pink. The ground turkey can come already seasoned which I prefer. It just adds something to the meat. If you have regular ground turkey, you can always add Italian seasonings to the mix.

Remove from heat. Add 1 can tomato sauce, cooked rice, spices, and cheese. Mix it all up! Leave enough cheese to sprinkle on top of the stuffed peppers. Lightly grease a baking dish. Fill peppers with stuffing, and place in the baking dish, pour the other 8 ounce can of tomato sauce over the peppers. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour until peppers are tender. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese left aside on tops of the peppers and bake for an additional 10 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve with garlic bread, or any choice of sides. Yum!


(Click for printable recipe)