Deconstructed Stuffed Peppers

With deconstructed dishes in culinary style this season, it seems a good time to share this recipe for Deconstructed Stuffed Peppers, a wonderful take on traditional stuffed peppers that my wife created and cooked. My part this week was limited to following her around the kitchen with a camera and taking good notes.




The idea for this recipe came a few weeks ago when, after attending a spaghetti and meatballs dinner, we were fortunate to be given some leftover meatballs to take home. (The meatballs were some of the best I’ve ever had and, despite my best efforts, I was not able to get the recipe out of the chef.) A night or two later, my wife used them to put together a kind of deconstructed stuffed pepper meal that was so good I knew it had to be shared here. (Unlike her husband, a technocrat who typically plans recipes in great detail, she’s a marvelous improvisational cook.) As an added benefit, except for the bowl used to mix the meatball ingredients, everything is done in one baking dish. (Long-time readers may also remember a recipe my wife provided about a year ago for a lovely cream of broccoli soup, also worth checking out.)


The recipe begins with finished meatballs, cooked to completion. Use any you like; if you need a meatball recipe, click here for the one published on this site a couple of weeks ago. 




The recipe also calls for a tomato sauce. You may choose to use a good-quality marinara sauce from a jar, the no-cook sauce published here previously, or any other you like. This being her recipe, I’ll pass along my wife’s recommendation that a smoother sauce works better than a chunkier sauce in this case.




This recipe makes about three servings.




Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.




Put 10 cooked 2” meatballs, 2 rough-chopped green peppers, 1 medium rough-chopped onion in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. (You’ll want to use more meatballs if yours are smaller, or fewer if yours are larger.)
Add 2-1/2 to 3 cups of sauce and stir to mix.











Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.










Add 1 cup of uncooked white rice and 1 cup of water. Cover again with the foil and bake for another 5 – 10 minutes.







Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.









Bake uncovered a few more minutes until the cheese is melted.









All that’s left is to dish it up, add some garlic bread and a glass of wine, and you’ve got yourself an easy, delicious meal that’s a real change of pace!




Hope you enjoy these deconstructed stuffed peppers as much as I did. And be sure to stop by next week for another great-tasting, kitchen-tested treat that will be perfect with your Christmas dinner! (Or any other time, for that matter.) Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)

Turkey Meatballs and Spaghetti

In last week’s article, I called fresh-baked pie a “white shirt” dish because, like a white shirt, it’s a good choice for almost any situation. Today I’m happy to share another can’t-go-wrong meal choice: Meatballs and Spaghetti made, in this case, with lower-fat turkey meatballs (and other reduced fat ingredients) and an easy-to-prepare no-cook tomato sauce.
 



Meatballs, in particular, are worth a close look. Getting the taste right isn’t all that difficult: adjust the seasonings to your taste, and remember to brown the meatballs before cooking them through in the sauce. I’ve always thought the catch to meatballs is their texture. Well-seasoned and properly cooked meat too easily becomes overly tough if not made properly. This recipe avoids that.


As shown in the photo, I served this with a simple Caesar salad and an easy, fresh-baked Italian bread. (I’ll be posting the bread recipe next week as a follow-up!)


This recipe makes four servings as determined by the amount of pasta. You’ll actually end up with enough leftover meatballs for another meal. (Spoiler alert: The last time we had leftover meatballs my wife used them to make a wonderful deconstructed stuffed pepper dinner; I’m hoping to convince her to let me post it here the next time she makes it.)


Prepare 4 cups of tomato sauce using the Easy, No-Cook Tomato Sauce recipe posted here previously. (Click here for the recipe.)




Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Cut five slices of stale bread (crusts removed) into small cubes to make about 1-1/4 cups. Put these in a bowl and let them rehydrate in ¾ cup of fat-free half-and-half.


Brush 2 ounces (2 – 4 slices, depending on the brand) of turkey bacon strips with abou a tablespoon of maple syrup and bake in the 400 degree oven till cooked, about 15 minutes. When the bacon is done, set it aside to cool. (Hint: If you don’t have the stale bread called for in the steps below, you can crisp up five slices of bread in the oven at the same time to simulate it becoming stale. Just watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn, and turn it over to do both sides.)


While the oven is preheating and the bacon is cooking, add a little olive oil to a sauté pan and, when warmed, cook 2 cloves of chopped garlic till aromatic, about 1 minute. Add ½ cup of chopped onions and sauté till cooked but not browned. When the onions have almost finished cooking, add 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley (or 2 teaspoons of dried parsley. When done, set the onion mixture aside to cool.


After the bacon and the onion mixture have cooled, combine them in a bowl with the other meatball ingredients: 1-1/2 pounds ground turkey; the turkey bacon (chopped into small pieces); ½ tablespoon fresh thyme (or ½ teaspoon dried thyme); 1/3 cup grated parmesan (fresh grated instead of canned if possible); 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt; ½ tsp fresh-ground pepper; a pinch of red pepper flakes; a pinch of nutmeg; 2 egg-substitute eggs; and the rehydrated bread cubes. Mix gently by hand, being careful not to press hard or overwork the mixture; we want to keep the texture of the meatballs light. This handling, although easy, is a critical step to getting the meatball texture right. (You can mix the ingredients with a spatula if you prefer, but if you don't mix it by hand you're missing one of life's great experiences.)
You can test the seasonings by taking a small bit of the meat mixture and cooking it in the pan you used to cook the onions and tasting it. 



Gently form meatballs, each about 2” diameter.








Warm a little olive oil in the pan you used to sauté the onions. Working in batches, sauté the meatballs till browned. While the meatballs are browning, begin heating the pasta water (salted).


When the meatballs have all browned, drain any excess oil from the pan, and add the sauce. Let the meatballs simmer in the sauce till cooked through, about 25 minutes.


When the meatballs have almost finished cooking, drop 1 pound of long pasta into the boiling water (I used fettucine, but any long pasta you like will work) and cook one minute less than indicated on the package.


When the meatballs have finished cooking, set them aside in a bowl and top with some of the sauce. Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the starchy pasta water, and add the pasta and the water to the sauce remaining in the pan. Finish cooking the pasta through in the sauce.


Serve the pasta and the meatballs in separate serving bowls. (Meatballs are a very personal thing, you know!)


Hope to see you here next week for Part II: easy, fresh baked Italian bread to serve with this or any other Italian meal you make! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)