Stuffed bell peppers with rice and ground meat offer a flexible, satisfying meal that home cooks can adapt to whatever ingredients they have on hand. The recipe serves six and takes about 1 hour 40 minutes from start to finish, including 20 minutes of prep and 1 hour 20 minutes of cooking.
The filling combines 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef, 1 ½ cups cooked rice, ½ cup freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, four minced garlic cloves, two teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Any ground meat works—lamb, pork, or an equal mixture of sausage and beef. The recipe author used lean beef but recommends trying 1 pound beef with ½ pound pork sausage for added flavor.
The peppers themselves are six bell peppers of any color, sliced ½-inch from the top with stems and cores removed. A thin slice from the bottom helps them stand upright, and about four tiny holes poked in the bottoms let juices drain during baking. 
Building the Dish
A 9x13-inch baking dish gets 2 ½ cups of chunky tomato sauce, plus ½ onion very thinly sliced, ½ cup beef broth, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes. The peppers stand upright in this mixture. 
The meat mixture is lightly stuffed into the peppers, then each portion gets a tablespoon of tomato sauce on top. The reserved pepper tops go back on, and the dish is covered with parchment paper and foil before baking at 375 degrees F. 
After an hour, the foil and parchment come off, and the peppers bake another 20 to 30 minutes until the filling is cooked through and the peppers are soft, sweet, and tender. A final sprinkle of ½ teaspoon parsley per pepper and a spoonful of pan juices finishes the dish. 
Nutrition and Variations
Each serving provides 376 calories, 17 grams of fat, 26 grams of carbohydrates, and 30 grams of protein. The recipe notes that herbs and meat can be adjusted freely, making it a practical option for using leftover rice—a common reason people make stuffed peppers in the first place.
Editorial Notes