Stuffed Pepper Cups

One of my all-time favorite meals has always been stuffed peppers.  I know there are a lot of recipes out there, but none have ever tasted as good to me as my grandma's simple, but so, SOO yummy stuffed pepper recipe.  I could honestly eat this recipe once a week (and sometimes we do!) because it's just that good!  As with most of my recipes, I have added my own extra touches, or, as I like to refer to them, pinches of love.

Stuffed Green Pepper Cups

4 Green Peppers

Salt

8 cups Water

1 pound Ground Beef

1/4 cup diced onion

2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Black Pepper

1 28 oz. can Whole Peeled Tomatoes

1 28 oz. can water

1 cup long grain rice

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce

8 oz. Shredded Colby Jack Cheese

Nonstick Cooking Spray

Cut stems off peppers, clean seeds and membrane out of peppers, and rinse.  Bring 8 cups water to a boil, drop peppers into boiling water, and boil for 8 minutes.  Remove peppers from water, make sure all water is dumped out, and leave upside down in a colander to drain.

Preheat oven to 375°

In a large skillet or pot, add ground beef, onion, salt, and pepper.  Cook until onions are tender and translucent and ground beef is browned and cooked thoroughly.  

Add tomatoes and one can of water.  Using a potato masher or spatula, mash the tomatoes as much as possible.  Continue to do so as they cook as well.  Add Worcestershire sauce and rice and stir all ingredients together.  Bring to a boil, cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring after every 15 minutes.  

After 45 minutes (or when rice is tender), remove from heat, and stir in the shredded cheese.  

Spray a 9" x 9" pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Stand the peppers in the pan, open side up. Salt the insides liberally.  Fill each pepper with the rice mixture, then spread the rest around the peppers, helping them to stand up.  

Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until the top of the rice is browned and has formed a light crust.  Remove from oven, let stand 5 minutes, then serve.

Extra Pinches of Love:

-Serve with a tossed salad and bread and butter

-Cut the remaining pepper around the removed stems off and finely chop it up, then add it to the ground beef and onion mixture during the browning stage.