These were great.  rom Giada’s cookbook that I have been using.  Our first night a couple of the peppers were rather small.  We were able to fill 3 rather large ones for a second meal.  I did not use a plant based meat.  I used turkey burger.  Also chopping veggies in a 1/3” chop is not my thing.  Possibly if you used your food processor to chose the veggies you could have small enough pieces that it would fill only 4 very large peppers.  

Also I recommend holding back the cheese topping until the last 5 minutes of cooking.  It was rather crusty the first night.  It tasted really good and smell had Lucy circling the table.   

Ingredients:     

4 medium red, yellow orange bell peppers 

1/2 t kosher salt

2 T EVOO

1/2# plant based “ground beef”  (I used 1# turkey burger.)

2 shallot, chopped

1 fennel bulb Stalks removed, chipped into 1/3” pieces (really?1/3”)

1/4t dried oregano

1 1/2 C cooked brown rice (I don’t like brown rice and always use white Japanese rice.)

1 (14 oz.) can cherry tomatoes, crushed by hand (Never heard of it.  I used a can of diced tomatoes.)

1/4 can fresh basil, chopped

1 C baby spinach, chopped

1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggano

1/4 C grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Cut off the top 1/3” of each pepper and pull out the ribs and seeds.  Chop the caps into 1/3” pieces, discarding the stems.  Cut a think slice off the bottoms so they stand upright, if needed.  Season the inside evenly with 1/4 t of salt.  Nestle the peppers in a baking dish that holds them snugly and set aside.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the oil and heat for another minute, then add the ground meat and use the back of a wooden spoon to break it into small pieces.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the crumbles are browned, about 5 minutes.  
4. Add the chopped pepper caps, shallots, fennel, oregano, and the remaining 1 1/4 t salt and cook another 4 minutes or until fragrant and the vegetables are beginning to soften.  
5. Stir in the rice, tomatoes, basil, spinach, and Parmigiano cheese and continue to cook until the spinach is wilted and cheese is melted, about 3 minutes.
6. Spoon the mixture into peppers, dividing it evenly and top with the mozzarella.  
7. Add 1/2 C water to the baking dish.  
8. Bake the peppers for 40 minutes or until the cheeses melted and the peppers are soft but not collapsing.  (see note above about the cheese.)
9. Serve hot.