Jack o’ lantern bell peppers recipe
Spooky season with a tasty twist! Try our jack o’ lantern bell peppers recipe, stuffed to the brim with deliciousness. Perfect for a hauntingly delightful dinner!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g mixed ground meat
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 large onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 150 g button mushrooms
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp thyme
- ¼ tsp cumin
- 1 ½ tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp smoked chipotle
- 400 g canned tomato sauce
- 300 g cooked rice
- 6 large bell peppers
- 120 g grated mozzarella cheese
Method
Start by heating up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan. Once warm, introduce 500 g of mixed ground meat and let it caramelize. As it browns, season the meat with 1 ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of black pepper. Next, add a large chopped onion to the pan and sauté until it turns translucent. Incorporate 150 g of chopped button mushrooms and 4 cloves of garlic into the mixture, stirring continuously for about 6-8 minutes. Enhance the flavors by seasoning with 1 tsp of oregano, ½ tsp of thyme, ¼ tsp of cumin, 1 ½ tsp of sweet paprika, and ½ tsp of smoked chili. Pour in 400 ml of tomato sauce, mixing it well, and allow it to cook for an additional 2 minutes. Once done, combine this meat mixture with 300 g of cooked rice in a separate bowl. For the bell peppers, cut off their stem tops and set them aside. Clear out the cores and seeds from the bell peppers. Add a playful touch by carving a jack’o lantern face onto each pepper. Stuff each carved bell pepper with the meat and rice mixture and top them with their reserved stem tops. Arrange these stuffed peppers in a baking pan and cover them with foil. Bake them in an oven preheated to 180 °C using both top and bottom heat for 30 minutes. After this, remove the foil and the stem tops from the peppers, sprinkling 20 g of mozzarella cheese on top of each one. Place them back into the oven for another 10 minutes. Once the cheese has melted and slightly browned, top the bell peppers with their stem tops again, and they’re ready to be served.
