Preparing Stuffed Bell Peppers
Making the Stuffing
The stuffing is the most important part of the stuffed bell pepper. Start by cooking the rice. Any rice will work here. I prefer rice that isn’t sticky but sticky rice will absolutely work. I usually use basmati or jasmine rice.
My preferred method is to cook the rice in the microwave. Add the rice and twice as much water into a microwave-safe dish with half of the salt. Set the power level for the microwave to 60% and the cooking time for 20 minutes.
The dish must be graded for cooking in the microwave, not just microwave-safe. I use CorningWare. Any dish that is both oven and microwave-safe will be graded for microwave cooking.
TIP: If you don’t have the right dish, or microwave or simply prefer not to cook using the microwave, cook the rice on the stovetop following the package instructions.
While the rice is cooking, heat up the large pan to brown the ground pork (4-5 minutes). Add the ground pork to the pan and break up with a spatula. Repeat this process until the pork is fully browned.
TIP: If you would like to add more veggies to this dish feel free to add frozen mixed vegetables at this point. Cook until vegetables are fully warmed through.
Add the salt, pepper and fresh dill and stir to combine. Turn off the heat.
Once the rice is cooked, add the rice to the pan with the meat and once again stir until well combined.
Cooking the Bell Peppers
While you are waiting for the rice to cook, cut the tops of the bell peppers, clean out the seeds from the insides and wash.
Fill each pepper with the rice and meat stuffing. If you want to replace the stems don’t overfill the peppers to leave room at the top. I only do this for presentation as they don’t serve any other purpose.
Place the stuffed peppers in a large pot in an upright position. Pour a cup of stock in the bottom of the pot, cover the lid and cook on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. The cooking time here really depends on your preference for the texture of the peppers. If you prefer firmed peppers then 20 minutes will be plenty. If you, however, prefer softer flesh, cook for 30 minutes then check the texture with a fork before plating.
Cooking the Sauce
While the peppers are cooking you need to prepare the sauce.
Combine all ingredients except the milk and flour in a small pot and whisk together until well combined. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
In a small bowl combine the milk and flour and whisk until the flour fully dissolves. Pour this mixture into the pot with the tomatoes stirring until fully integrated. Cook for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
Serving Stuffed Bell Peppers
Tongs are your best friend when removing the peppers from the pot. If the peppers are very soft also use a large serving spoon to help lift the peppers out and onto a plate.
If I am just serving my family and presentation is not a factor, I cut the peppers in half on the plate and pour the sauce over each half. This way it cools a bit faster and you get more sauce per bite.
We usually serve stuffed bell peppers on their own with the sauce. If you would like to add a little something extra make a simple spinach side salad with lemon dressing to complement this dish.
My kids don’t like the tomato sauce so they use ketchup and I’m not even mad about it. Surprisingly, ketchup is a great alternative.
Substitutions
Rice
You can use any rice that you like. I prefer rice that is not sticky but it would still work very well if you like that texture. I use jasmine rice or basmati because that’s what I usually have on hand. I personally prefer white rice for this recipe because it is more fluffy but brown rice would work as well.
Meat
The ground pork can easily be replaced by any other ground meat. Chicken and turkey work very well here. If you would like to make this a vegetarian recipe skip the meat altogether and opt for beans. Kidney beans or black beans will add a great texture balance.
Sauce
The tomato sauce is not the only option. As I mentioned above my kids love to replace the sauce with ketchup however another sauce work beautifully as well. Mushroom sauce! Make a simple mushroom sauce my sautéing mushroom and onion in a pan, add stock and flour to thicken. Mix in salt and pepper and you are golden.
Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe
Equipment
- 2.5 quart microwave-safe dish (optional)
- Medium-Large pot with lid
- Small pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- ¾ cups rice uncooked
- 2-3 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 tsp salt divided
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 4-6 bell pepper 6 small or 4 large
- 1 cup stock
Instructions
Peppers
- Start by cooking the rice. My preferred method is to cook the rice in the microwave. Add the rice and 1 ½ cups of water to a microwave safe dish with half of the salt. The dish must be graded for cooking in the microwave. I use corning ware. Set the power level for the microwave to 60% and the cooking time for 20 minutes. If you don’t have an appropriate dish, cook the rice on the stovetop following the package instructions.3/4 cups rice
- While the rice is cooking, heat up the large pan and brown the ground pork (6-7 minutes).1 lb ground pork
- Once cooked, turn off the heat and add dill, pepper and remaining salt and stir to combine.2-3 tbsp fresh dill, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp salt
- Add the rice to the pan and stir everything to combine evenly.
- Cut the tops of the bell peppers, clean out the seeds from the insides and wash.4-6 bell pepper
- Fill each pepper with the rice and meat stuffing. If you want to replace the stems don’t overfill the peppers to leave room at the top.
- Place the stuffed peppers in a large pot in an upright position. Pour a cup of stock in the bottom of the pot, cover the lid and cook on medium heat for 20-30 minutes.1 cup stock
Sauce
- In a small pot combine tomato paste, stock, salt, and sugar. Stir until the tomato paste dissolves into the stock. Cook for 5 minutes.5.5 oz tomato paste, 1/2 cup stock, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt
- In a small bowl whisk together the milk and flour until flour has fully dissolved.1 cup milk, 1 tbsp flour
- Pour the milk slurry into the pot and whisk to blend well. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Plating
- Plate the peppers, one per person, pouring the sauce over each pepper. If plating with the stems, remove them to pour the sauce inside the stuffed pepper.
Nutrition
A brown sugar apple crisp is the perfect ending to any dinner. It’s a simple dessert that satisfies any sweet tooth.
Brown sugar apple crisp is a deliciously simple dessert or snack that’s a great way to use up leftover apples. There are no baking skills required, obviously since I’m making it, and you likely have all the ingredients on hand.
The brown sugar adds a depth that makes this apple crisp even more flavourful. Though it does take a little bit of effort to peel and slice the apples I promise you this dessert is super basic and totally worth it.
Preparing Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
Ingredients
Produce
Gala apples: Sweet, sometimes tart fruit that grows on apple trees. There are over 7,500 varieties of apples grown around and we use gala. They are sweet and crisp but not too crunchy. Most sweet varieties will work in this recipe.
Lemon juice: Lemons are citrus fruit loaded with vitamin C. These somewhat oval, yellow fruit are packed with flavour. They are sour and sometimes tart and add freshness to recipes. For this recipe, we are using the juice of a lemon.
Dairy
Butter: Butter is churned milk or cream and is high in fat. It is solidified when refrigerated, holds a semi-soft, spreadable consistency at room temperature, or can be liquefied when heated.
Pantry
Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a spice that is actually made out of the inner bark of the tree. You can commonly buy cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon. This recipe calls for ground cinnamon.
Nutmeg: Nutmeg is a seed coming from an evergreen tree. The seed is used as a spice in food however be careful not to use too much for two reasons. One reason is that it’s a very overpowering flavour. The second is that in larger amounts it can be toxic due to its psychoactive effects.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar is a mixture of white sugar and molasses. Molasses is responsible for the darker colour. We use dark brown sugar for this recipe but any brown sugar will do.
Whole wheat flour: I use whole wheat flour for this recipe to add a little bit more fibre but all-purpose flour works just as well.
Rolled oats: Also called old fashioned or whole oats, these oats are steamed and pressed to gain their shapes. These are most commonly used to make granola and in baking.
How to Make Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
There is a little bit of work with this one but it’s still very simple to make. Gather your ingredients and let’s get slicing.
Step 1: Prep the Apples
Start by peeling, coring, and slicing the apples. I cut them into 1/8-inch slices, maybe a bit bigger.
Once your apples are sliced, move them to a medium bowl.
Next add the lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg to the bowl.
TIP: If you are a fan of nutmeg you can add as much as ½ tsp of nutmeg in total.
Using two spatulas, toss the apples until they are all evenly coated with the flavouring. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl with each toss to get all the spices mixed in.
TIP: Silicone spatulas are my favourite for this task. They are perfect for easily scraping the sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the flavour.
Now grease a 9×13 glass baking dish with butter or oil pray, then spread the apples on the bottom of the dish in an even layer.
Preheat the oven now to 350°F.
Step 2: Make the Crisp
Next, it’s time to make the crisp. Combine the wholewheat flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and cinnamon in a bowl. I use the same bowl as the apples, and there is no need to wash it.
Stir until all the dry ingredients until they’re well combined and the cinnamon is evenly distributed.
Then add the butter and using your hands massage the butter into the other ingredients until you get a wet sand type of consistency. You want to make sure all the spices and flour are combined with butter.
Once the dry ingredients are mixed in with the butter the crisp is done. Sprinkle it over the apples in an even layer and bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes.
Substitutions
Whole Wheat Flour: You can use all-purpose flour instead. There isn’t going to be much of a difference so whichever flour you have on hand will be great.
Brown Sugar: You can definitely use white granulated sugar instead of brown sugar. The brown sugar contributed to the nice darker colour and also adds a slightly different taste thanks to the molasses it contains. Using white sugar however isn’t going to make it any worse, just slightly different.
Gala apples: Though different varieties of apples will have different textures, especially once cooked, we are not picky here at House of G&K. The only thing you want to do is check how tart your apples are. If they have a slightly sour or tart taste add ½ cup of sugar in the crisp instead of 1/3 cup.
Serving Brown Sugar Apple Crisp
Once the apple crisp is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool for at least 20 minutes.
It tastes delicious when it’s warm or cold so this is just based on your preference.
Whatever temperature you like it at, I highly recommend serving it a la mode…there’s nothing like a scoop of vanilla ice cream paired with an apple dessert.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is brown sugar apple crisp gluten-free?
This recipe is not gluten-free as it calls for wheat flour. You can make this apple crisp gluten-free by using gluten-free flour. Also, make sure your oats are labeled gluten-free as well.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:
Hunter’s Stew (Bigos) Recipe
Equipment
- Knife
Ingredients
- 800 ml sauerkraut
- 1 yellow onion
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 smoked sausage
- 3 prunes
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup vegetable stock
Optional Additions:
- ½ cabbage
- ¼ cup dry mushrooms (soaked overnight in water)
- ½ tbsp sweet pimento
- ½ lbs beef or pork shoulder
- Leftover cold cuts
Instructions
- Slice the onion, bacon and smoked sausage, and finely dice the prunes.1 yellow onion, 6 slices bacon, 1 smoked sausage, 3 prunes
- You can drain the sauerkraut if you don’t want the stew to be too sour. You can also rinse the sauerkraut to further tame the flavour.800 ml sauerkraut
- Add the oil to a large pan or Dutch oven and heat on medium-high heat. Once hot add the onion, bacon and sausage and sauté for about 10 minutes. Next, add the sauerkraut to a pan and cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently.1 yellow onion, 6 slices bacon, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 smoked sausage
- Now add the prunes, bay leaf, allspice, and stock. Stir everything to combine, cover and stew for 30 minutes. Stir every 10 minutes or so to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.3 prunes, ¼ tsp allspice, 3 bay leaves, 1 cup vegetable stock
- Now add the tomato paste and black pepper and stir once again to combine.1 tbsp tomato paste, ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Cook for another 5 minutes and you’re ready to serve.
