Sometimes the name of a recipe leaves no room for interpretation, and this is such a case. As soon as you see the word Greek, you know that the ingredient list will include lamb, feta cheese, olive oil, and perhaps some spinach. And of course, stuffed peppers leave no room for flare, unless you want to play with color. Be that as it may guys, this is a great recipe that does not take much time, yet lets you dazzle your charm and show off your cuisine sophistication – it is Greek after all. You can substitute beef, pork, or game for lamb, and by switching cauliflower rice for Orzo pasta, this becomes a viable keto dish.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Lamb – or beef, pork or game – ground
- 6 Bell peppers – topped and de-seeded – use green or red
- 8 oz Orzo pasta – can use Cauliflower rice for Keto
- 16 oz frozen Spinach – thawed and well drained
- 8 oz Feta cheese – crumbled
- 6 oz can of Tomato Paste
- 1 Onion – diced
- 2 Garlic cloves – minced
- 2 Tomatoes – diced – or 1 – 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 4.5 tsp dried Oregano – 3.5 TBL fresh
- 1 TBL dried Basil – 3 TBL fresh
- 2 TBL Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Process
- Mise en Place – Measure and prepare your ingredients prior to starting.
- Cook pasta in boiling salted water ~8 mins until soft but firm (el dente).
- Heat separate skillet, then add oil. Once hot, add onions and cook until translucent (~ 5 mins).
- Add garlic and cook 1 min.
- Add meat and cook until done.
- And add basil, oregano, and then salt and pepper to taste.
- Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
- Mix with other ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 400 deg F.
- Rub outside if peppers with olive oil and season with S&P.
- Arrange peppers in baking dish and fill with mixture. Replace tops.
- Bake 30 – 40 mins until peppers begin to brown.
- Let cool 5 mins before serving. . . the last thing you want to do is burn your date’s mouth with hot cheese, dates tend to go south pretty quick after something like that.
Note 1: I tend to treat this as an all-in-one meal, but you could prepare a salad or vegetable to go with it. Avoid starches like bread or couscous because that would be redundant. I almost hate to say this, but you could also serve this with some sour cream, but not only would that Americanize a good Greek dish, it would be like adding ketchup to fine French cuisine……
Note 2: This recipe will result in a dry stuffed pepper, which is good, but if you like to have a more moist or even juicy stuffed pepper, you can add a can of tomato sauce and bump up the basil and oregano.
Note 3: Make sure the peppers are thoroughly baked. There is little chance of over cooking the stuffing. I have found that for my oven, the baking time is closer to 40 mins, but everyone’s oven is different. Sometimes for the last five minutes, I turn the convection fan to work the exterior of the peppers into a more done state.
