Hits the spot any night of the week.
Ingredients
- 3 medium red bell peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces ground beef (or turkey if you prefer)
- ½ cup cooked brown rice
- ¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs
- ¾ cup low-sodium marinara sauce
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (1 oz.)
- ¼ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (1 oz.)
Quick San Mazarzano Tomato and Basil Sauce
- 1 28-ounce can Whole San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy
- 6 large basil leaves
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tablespoons EVOO
- Sea salt to taste
Directions
For the sauce
- Crush the San Marzano tomatoes with your hands or run them through a food mill. (You want a smooth sauce without large chunks of tomato.)
- Put the oil and garlic in a sauté pan and cook the garlic until it just starts to brown. Discard the garlic.
- Add the tomatoes and stir well to mix in the hot garlic-infused oil.
- Add the basil leaves and simmer the sauce to evaporate some of the water, about 15 minutes. Cover and either simmer on very low, or remove from heat.
For the Peppers
- Coat the basket of an air fryer with cooking spray. Cut tops off peppers and reserve. Seed the peppers and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in rice and Panko; cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in marinara, parsley, pepper and Parmesan. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared peppers.
- Place the peppers in the prepared air-fryer basket. Nestle the pepper tops in the bottom of the basket. Cook at 350 degrees until the peppers are tender, about 8 minutes. Top with mozzarella; cook until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes more.
- Spoon the tomato sauce mixture in a serving bowl and place a slice bell pepper on top. Garnish with more sauce, if you like, cheese or chopped basil.