The latest People Magazine had a recipe for stuffed peppers that caught my eye. I can’t believe I’ve never made these things! I detest tomato sauced recipes, so I tweaked the recipe to incorporate a pesto into the meat sauce. This pesto is from my favorite cookbook by Mark Bittman, Kitchen Express. What resulted was the most savory and divine meal ever, super easy and I like having leftovers. Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients, wasn’t hard to do at all. This is a fabulous, no starch meal that really satisfies with every bite. Serve with a small side salad.
PS: Here’s the recipe online with the tomato sauce in case you are interested! http://www.food.com/recipe/spinach-meat-stuffed-peppers-carb-free-518024
Pesto:
Herbs (any combination of basil, sage (1-2 leaves), or parsley, about a large handful, washed and stems removed)
Parmesan Cheese (grated, about 2 handfuls)
Walnuts (about 1-2 handfuls)
Salt and Pepper to taste
*Oil (avocado or olive)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in food processor, add oil last, adding just enough oil to make it like a paste. Set aside.
Meat Mixture:
about 1 T oil
1 onion chopped
Zucchini (about 1- 1 1/2 cups grated, mix with 1/2 tsp salt in a colander, place over sink or bowl, let sit 10-15 min, then squeeze out water) * you could also use 4 handfuls of chopped spinach or another chopped green)
1-2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound of ground pork
4 bell peppers (any color, I used red, yellow and orange)
Parmesan, grated
Directions:
Pour oil into large sauté pan, add onions and cook until soft, about medium heat. Add zucchini once its been drained, sauté until soft. Add garlic stir until fragrant. Stir in beef and pork and cook until no longer pink. Remove from heat, drain over paper towels. Carefully (without ripping paper towels) put beef mixture back into pan over low heat and stir in pesto. Salt & pepper to taste.
Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds and membranes, drizzle a bit of oil into each pepper half and season with salt and pepper.
Spoon meat mixture into peppers. Place in large baking dish and cover with foil, bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, take foil off, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and broil for about 3-5 minutes