Stuffed Bell Peppers with Tomato Sauce

Yum, just had these last night and my tummy is happy. My folks are visiting. Justin is away dealing with his uncle's estate, so I'm looking to fix things Justin doesn't like. He's not big on bell peppers, and this is a great time to have them.

My grandmother Katherine used to make stuffed peppers using green bell peppers. I happen to prefer orange or red peppers. You can use green if you like, or even purple if you happen to grow those.

If you like, this recipe translates well into Cabbage Rolls. See the note below for details.

Ingredients

2 lbs hamburger
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 baggie of 10-Minute Boil-in-Bag rice, not boiled
2 eggs
3 medium bell peppers (I like red or orange)
2 c. water
4 T heaping brown sugar
2 cans condensed tomato soup
2 small cans V-8
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
pepper & salt to taste

Method

1. Mix V-8, water, tomato soup, tomato sauce, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Simmer until warm and thickened.

2. Combine rice, hamburger, onion, egg and 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Slice each bell pepper in half lengthwise. Remove the stem, seeds, and white seed membrane.

4. Fill each pepper half with the meat mixture. Mound them up a bit. Place in a 9 x 13 pan.

5. Cover rolls with sauce, as much as you like. You don't have to use it all. We like lots of sauce so I use it all.

6. Cover pan with foil. Bake 1 hour at 350F, basting occasionally. If you want them to brown up, remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes.



Note: The sauce and meat mixture also work for cabbage rolls. Blanche some cabbage leaves, fill with meat mixture rolled up like a burrito. Secure cabbage leaves with a toothpick. Bake as instructed above.