I just stuff them then bake....make sure to have some tomato juice or something in the dish when you bake them.
Raw stuffing in raw peppers....then bake.
Linda C

I also used to hate them. Now that I'm a grown-up (or OLD enough to be one, anyway), I like them, but I NEVER stuff the green ones. Red are my favorite. Orange or yellow will do in a pinch, or purple even, but NEVER green. I don't parboil or pre-cook (they seem mushy then). I brush them with just a hint of oil as your recipe suggests.

Cathy, I was never a fan of the typical baked stuffed peppers. But I have two stuffed pepper recipes that I love. One I've been making for almost 30 years. I adapted it from the recipe of a neighbour. Julia was from Argentina. And the other recipe is adapted from Lidia Bastianich. I've never par boiled peppers first whether there were going to be baked or simmered in a pot of sauce.

Even if a recipe calls for Bell peppers you can use any pepper. I like the Hungarian Sweet Peppers for their flavour and their shape.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table - Beef And Veal

Julia's Stuffed Peppers
=======================
This is a recipe that I have been making for over 30 years. It was given to me by a lovely lady that lived next door to us. She was from Argentina and use to make some very interesting dishes.

Meat Filling

2 lbs combination of Veal, Pork, Beef,
1 small onion, finely chopped
bread soaked in milk
2 eggs
2 to 3 cloves minced garlic (my neighbour used powdered garlic)
paprika
nutmeg
oregano
fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper

Hungarian Peppers

Sauce

1 small onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 Cans tomatoes
bay leaf
pepper
oregano
salt and pepper
. Mix together all ingredients and stuff into long Hungarian Peppers

Form remaining meat into small meatballs

Sauce

Saute onions and garlic in olive until soft. Add tomatoes and
seasonings and bring to a boil. Add stuffed peppers and meatballs and
lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.

To thiken sauce

Heat some oil in a small skillet and add some flour. (Roux) Cook
stirring until flour is lightly browned. This with some chicken broth
and add to sauce to thicken.

Serve with mashed potatoes or with noodles.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Meat Stuffed Peppers
====================
Edited from Lidia's Stuffed Pepper recipe.

Meat Stuffed Peppers

1/3 cup rice
Salt
hungarian sweet peppers
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 pound ground meat (pork/beef/veal)
1 egg
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup chicken broth

Tomato sauce

olive oil
garlic,
onions
canned tomatoes
red pepper flakes
fresh basil

Prepare the Tomato Sauce.

Cook rice until almost tender. Drain and cool to room temperature.
While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 400 F, prepare the peppers and start the filling: Cut the stems from the peppers and scrape out the seeds and membranes with a teaspoon. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 4 minutes.

Put the onions, garlic, parsley, fresh oregano and chicken broth in small food processor. Process. Add the cheese, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and onion mixture to the meat. Mix well. Mix in the egg and season with salt and pepper. Fry a small piece to check for seasoning.

Stuff the peppers and use the extra meat to make meatballs.

Saute the peppers to lightly brown. Place the peppers in a casserole dish and cover with some of the tomato sauce. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I stuff and bake raw as Linda does and we don't mind if they're red or green.
The Austrian restaurant we frequent has stuffed peppers as a special one day a week, and theirs are always green, and in a tomato sauce.

SharonCb

I'm in the par-boil camp.

Used to make stuffed peppers when I was first married w/out par-boilling & they never tasted as good as my mother's. I love crudites, and don't like my vegetables overcooked, but there was always a tough texture and bitter flavor in my stuffed green peppers before I began par-boilling them.

Later found out that my mother always made her stuffed peppers in her pressure cooker. Haven't tried that yet, myself. But have had good results with par-boiling before baking.

Now I'm in the mood for stuffed peppers!

Of course I know you all are good, but this response -- both timing and content -- is amazing! I should have come here in the first place.

Cathy

Cathy, I recently found my own lazy/frugal/timesaving way to fix stuffed peppers. The recipe I like from Southernfood.About.com uses cooked rice in with the raw meat, so I stick the cleaned pepper halves in on top of the cooking rice about the last 5-10 minutes of the rice cooking time. The peppers get slightly steamed, the rice is done, and I don't have to get out another pan and use more gas to par-boil the peppers.

What Linda does.

Or you could try this!!!

Here is a recipe for a Pepper dish I made up a while back.
I used a very large Green Bell Pepper, cut in half.

- - - - - - - - - -

Lou's Open Face Stuffed Pepper Prelibato ( Pepper Exquisite )

Use your favorite stuffing.
I used stuffing with par cooked Sausage.
You can also use seafood. Use your wildest imagination.
Maybe you better not ?????

Lay the two halves of Pepper on an oiled baking tin or
whatever you prefer.
Lay Provolone Cheese on the Pepper and Pile on the Stuffing.
Lay more Provolone on top of the stuffing.

Put sliced Tomatoes on that and sprinkle with
Garlic Powder, Onion Powder,Black Pepper and
a little of Old Bay Seasoning (optional)

Finale : Lay some Bacon strips across the top.
Roast in a 350 Degree Oven for about 15 minutes or
until the peppers are as tender as you like them.
ENJOY !!!

Stuffing
1 Celery stalk, (10in. Piece ) and ½ of a Med. l onion (chopped small) and
Cooked in Micro Wave until tender (about 2 ½ min.)

In a large Bowl mix:

1 1/2 cups of small bread cubes
1cup of Italian Bread crumbs

1 tablesp. Parsley Flakes
2 tablesp. Of Parmesan or Romano grated cheese
1 teasp. Of Onion Powder
1/2 teasp. Of Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning
Salt to taste ( ½ teaspoon to start )

1 piece of Italian Sausage 10 in. long, skinned and
cut into small pieces. Sautee till medium rare.
Add the cooked Onion and Celery.
Put 1 egg into a cup of chicken stock (or Chicken Soup Base )
beat well and mix this into the other ingredients. Add a little water,
if the mixture is too dry.

Google - Lou's Stuffed Peppers

What Linda does too...or is it three....!

I use the America's Test Kitchen recipe, which is cooked stuffing and par-boiled peppers. I prefer red myself as well.

I don't have the recipe handy, though.

Thanks everyone. The peppers were enjoyed by the family.

I gleaned the posts above and came up with a recipe that turned out pretty good. The filling was meat based (ground sirloin and sausage) with rice medley, sun dried tomatoes, onions, seasoning, tomato paste, roasted garlic. I spritzed the peppers with OO, stuffed them, set them in tomato sauce, and roasted at 400.

Your peppers sound good Cathy. I know it's too late to use this one now, but this is one I have used and liked. I did subsisture Italian Sausage for the Pork in this recipe. It is by Paula Deen.

Please ignore the "h in front of each measurement.

Stuffed Red Peppers

h 4 large red bell peppers
h 3/4 pound ground chuck
h 1/2 pound ground pork
h 1 medium onion, chopped
h 2 garlic cloves, minced
h 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
h 2 teaspoons House seasoning, recipe follows
h 1 cup cooked rice
h 1/2 cup jarred cheese and salsa
h 1/2 cup sour cream
h 1 cup diced tomatoes
h 1/2 cup chopped green onion tops
h 1 tablespoon soy sauce
h 1 cup hot water
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Start by cutting the peppers in half lengthwise, leaving the stems intact, and halving them also. Remove the seeds and ribs inside the peppers.
Using a hot skillet, saute the ground beef, pork, onion, garlic, 1 teaspoon of bouillon granules, and house seasoning together. Saute until onions become translucent. Drain the fat off. Add the rice, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, green onion tops, and soy sauce. Mix well and stuff the mixture into the peppers. In a small bowl, mix the hot water and the remaining bouillon granules. Pour this mixture into a shallow casserole large enough to hold all of the peppers. Place the stuffed peppers in the dish, cover with foil and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Remove the foil and spoon the juice from bottom of the casserole over the top of the peppers. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
House Seasoning:
h 1 cup salt
h 1/4 cup black pepper
h 1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Beverly

I do as Linda and Woodie and Chase... just stick the filling in and let it rip......

Alexa

teresa_nc7, could you please post a link to the recipe for stuffed peppers which you mentioned?

My dh's favorite aunt (sadly, now deceased) lived in northern Florida and he still raves about how delicious her stuffed peppers always were. She was a great Southern cook and I'd love to be able to [at least try!] make good stuffed peppers for him.

The stuffed peppers were well received so I will try them again incorporating many of your suggestions.

Beverly, that sounds like a winner.

Teresa, I found several stuffed pepper recipes on the website below. Which is your favorite?

How about a stuffed pepper soup?

2 lbs. hamberger
one onion chopped
1 28oz. can tomatoe sauce
1 28oz. can diced tomatoes
2 c. cooked rice
2 c. chopped green peppers
1/4 c. brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste.

Brown beef and chopped onion then drain. Add remaining ingrediants and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer till peppers are tender.

Yields 10 servings

You can also add garlic.
Serve with shredded cheese on top.

Here is a link to the recipe that I have made twice. Also shared it with a co-worker (who gave me her extra peppers) and she made the recipe and loved it as well. The tomato sauce is seasoned with more peppers, onions, and garlic which brings a lot of flavor to the dish. I do not put the cheese on mine....just seemed wrong somehow....

The recipe has a number of reviews -- and a 5 star rating.

Both sound like winners! Boy I have a lot of options that will help me impress my stuffed-pepper-loving family.

Thank you.

Teresa:
Nothing wrong with cheese. It goes with the Sauce. I used Provolone.

Thanks for the recipe link, teresa! Dh's aunt used rice in her stuffed peppers, so that recipe looks like it will work well. I don't know whether she used cheese on her peppers or not; I'll ask dh.

hawk307, I have bowls which match the one you posted. :-)

Mara:
I found a dozen Dinner Plates on Ebay to replace all the broken plates. Have a lot of extra's now.
Lou

As has been mentioned, I stuff the peppers while still raw, then bake.

I didn't like them as a child either and still don't care for them. I'll eat the stuffing out of the middle and leave the cooked pepper, too squishy for me! Dad loved the darned things, though, and so I'd grow peppers and he'd cut off the top, take out the core and "stack" 4 peppers per freezer bag. When he wanted stuffed peppers he'd take out a package and stuff them while still frozen, then bake.

Neither of my girls will eat them either, but Elery loves stuffed poblanos.

Annie

I just happened to run across a recipe I had saved and forgot about having. I have not prepared it but thought you might want to add it to your collection for your pepper loving family. It sounds interesting to me.

Chile/Tomato Stuffed Bell Peppers Jamie Oliver

2 Red Peppers, halved lengthwise, deseeded and the stem left on
2 Yellow Peppers, halved lengthwise, deseeded and the stem left on
Sea Salt and Black Pepper
1 Clove garlic, peeled and sliced finely
24 Cherry Tomatoes, halved
3 Fresh Red Chillies, 2 sliced and one deseeded and finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Capers, soaked and drained
Handful black olived, pitted
A Bunch Fresh Basil, leaves picked
2 Tablespoons red or white vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Optional: 8 Sliced Pancetta or Smoked Bacon
4 Slices Sourdough Bread
4 Balls Mozzarella Cheese, torn in half
2 Handfuls Arugula

The peppers are baked at 400F, then filled with the rest of the stuff. Served on top the bread and with the mozzarella on the side and Arugula on top.

There was some disagreement on another site as to whether to stuff raw or cooked. It said to put the pancetta on top and cover with foil. Cook in the oven (375-400) for 15 minutes. Take the foil off. Give them another 10-15 min. Put the thin sliced mozzarella on top. Put the peppers on top of the toast slices & poke them through the bottom so the juices run onto the toast. Sprinkle some more very finely diced chiles over everything. The arugula is served on the side, dressed with olive oil, wine vinegar and S&P.

Beverly

Beverly, That is very nice of you to share that recipe. It sounds really interesting..and different! I will be trying it.

Thank you,
Cathy

Lou, I'm glad that you found your plates. I may have to go that route to find some replacements for my set. And your pepper looks terrific.

I do vegetarian stuffed peppers. Make Spanish rice, stuff the unprepared peppers and bake. Love them! The peppers are still a little firm, but the Spanish rice really comes out well. Both of us eat the entire thing. However, we are both 60/65 and that might mean the difference.