Turkey Parmesan Stuffed Peppers

Everyone loves a stuffed pepper.

Or, everyone thinks they do until they dig into an unseasoned, watery vegetable filled with dry, overcooked beef.

There might be a suggestion of tomato sauce inside, or an overwhelming amount of cheese. But there is never a big, bold flavor statement where there so easily could be.

It’s a gilded jewelry box filled with plastic toys, and I wanted to find the real treasure.

I got all of my best tools ready: I planned to dice and deep-fry, I imagined breadcrumbs and butter, I prepped piles of shredded cheese. Then, I got lazy.

And that’s when I struck gold.

Turns out, tomato sauce, ground meat, and cheese are the only things you need to make excellent stuffed peppers, you just have to treat them better than that dude who always brings them to game day.

The key is to treat both the inside and the outside of the stuffed peppers as equally important parts of the meal. The pepper is not just the venue for the stuffing- it’s the opening act.

Start by rubbing down cleaned, halved bell peppers with good olive oil until they shine like new silverware. Season them lightly with salt and pepper.

Cook up ground turkey or beef with plenty of salt and spices, then drench it in tomato sauce (go for the jarred stuff! live dangerously!) and toss it with well-seasoned rice or quinoa.

Finally, throw in a couple of dashes of good red wine vinegar (or other acid) until it tastes so irresistible you start wondering if you should just eat it out of the pan and forget the whole stuffed pepper thing.

But it’s about to get so much better.

A bit of time in the oven (while you have a seat and read that magazine from last November) sweetens and softens the peppers. They hold their shape but surrender easily to the side of a fork. The stuffing tumbles onto your plate in a juicy, tomato-y mess.

Dinner is served, in a glistening, edible box.

Print Recipe

Turkey Parmesan Stuffed Peppers

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Dinner – American

By Samantha – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 35 minutes – Cooking Time: 35 minutes – Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Sweet, tender bell peppers stuffed with a dynamite combo of ground turkey cooked in Italian spices, marinara sauce, quinoa, and two different kinds of cheese.

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 of an onion, minced (about 1/2 a cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
• 1 lb ground turkey
• Salt
• 1 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
• 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa or rice (about ½ cup dry)
• ½ cup coarsely grated parmesan cheese
• 2-3 tsp red wine vinegar to taste
• 3 bell peppers red, orange, and/or yellow, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella or provolone

Instructions

1

Set the oven to 400°F. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil a 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook about 3 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and cook another minute or so, until fragrant. Add ground turkey and use the back of your spoon to smash it into pieces. Season with salt, the granulated garlic, oregano, parsley, and cook, 5 to 7 minutes or until turkey is mostly cooked through.

2

Add 1 ½ cups of the marinara sauce sauce, mix well, and simmer for about 3 minutes, until the turkey is completely cooked through. Turn off heat, stir in cooked quinoa, parmesan cheese and 2 tsp red wine vinegar. Taste, add more vinegar if it needs to be punchier, more salt if it needs to be saltier.

3

Season the bell peppers with a bit of olive oil and salt. Spread remaining marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Arrange bell peppers on top of the sauce in the baking dish. Spoon some of the turkey mixture into each pepper half, there is plenty of it so be generous, and top each with a heaping tablespoon of the mozzarella cheese.

4

Cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly, the cheese has melted and the peppers are tender.

Nutrition

• 367 Calories

Notes

I would suggest a red wine with ripe fruit flavors such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Zinfandel. These types of wines will pair nicely with the bell pepper’s subtle tang and earthiness and the stuffing’s savory richness.