Cannellini Pilaf Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a great way to get real satisfaction, comfort and protein, even as vegetarian.

Make it rich and flavorful in your seasonings and you will have a hit - especially if you serve it over pasta - a crown comfort food!

3 bell peppers, variety colors, halved and seeded (I used yellow, orange & red)

Filling:

about 3 cups coked rice or pilaf (see below)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained

1-1/2 cups cheddar or Gruyere (or other favorite hard) cheese, grated

1/2 cup half and half or light cream (or milk, or water)

2-3 green onions, finely diced

dash crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

24 oz jar favorite tomato sauce (or crushed whole tomatoes)

Topping ingredients:

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp dried dill weed

Beforehand: Make your pilaf, if you don’t have left-over rice: I made my cooked pilaf with 1/4 cup brown Basmati rice, 1/4 cup parboiled Indian Red Matta (or Uncle Ben’s) rice and 1/4 cup tiny star pasta (or datalini or orzo) with a dash of canola oil to toast slightly.

Then I added 1/4 tsp salt and 2-1/2 cups water. Make it your own. This will take about 20—to 30-ish minutes. Give it time - let it steam dry a bit.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Oil a 9x13-inch casserole dish and pool the spaghetti sauce evenly on the bottom. Cool the rice a bit to handle, and add to a large mixing bowl to mix thoroughly with the garlic, beans, cheese, cream, onions and red pepper flakes. Salt to taste (1/8 tsp?).

Now evenly distribute the filling ingredients about the pepper halves on a clean work surface. Then, position them by nestling together in the casserole atop the sauce.

Bake covered 30 minutes. Meanwhile, toss together the topping ingredients.

Remove casserole from the oven and uncover. Now, reduce oven to 375F. Scatter the topping atop the peppers and cook uncovered for about another 20 minutes, or until the dish is will browned and bubbly.

If desired, serve with pasta. Servers 4-6.

Comments

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