Easy Peasy stuffed Bell Peppers

Easy Peasy Crockpot Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

5-6 Bell Peppers (I like using a variety of colors)
24 oz. meat pasta sauce (I use my homemade sauce)
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained (add this only if your pasta sauce doesn’t already have meat in it like mine does)
1 egg, beaten (optional)
1 cup cooked rice
1/4 cup water
1 cup shredded Italian blend, Mozzarella, or Colby Jack cheese
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Cut the tops off your bell peppers. I don’t throw mine away. I cut around the stem/core and use the other pepper pieces in another meal (see note below). Since I’m using my crockpot there’s no need to blanch the peppers first. In a large bowl, stir together your pasta sauce, beef (if adding), and a beaten egg (This is not a must. I just like the addition of the egg to help everything hold together when it’s cooking). Stir the rice into the meat mixture. Spray inside of crockpot with cooking spray. Stuff each bell pepper halfway with meat mixture. Sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top. Finish stuffing the peppers with more meat mixture until almost full. Carefully place each pepper in crockpot standing up. Sprinkle a little Parmesan Cheese over top of each. Pour 1/4 cup of water inside crockpot to fall to the bottom. Cover and cook on LOW heat for 5-6 hours. The last 30 minutes of cooking sprinkle the rest of shredded cheese on top to melt. When done serve and enjoy.


Note: About those bell pepper tops. You can dice up and saute what is left on the tops to add to your meat sauce or use in another meal. Just cut around the stem/core and throw away (I put mine in a Ziploc bag in the freezer with other scraps to make homemade vegetable broth). Another thing I've seen done is to cut all of the seeds away from the tops and place back on top of peppers while they are cooking. The rest of the stem is easy to pull off and discard once cooked.