Stuffed Peppers Greek Style

As the temperature cools down i love to serve my stuffed peppers and i do them the way my mom taught me, with rice, not bread crumbs.  There are options, for those who do not like garlic, it is not necessary, but i would add some feta cheese inside the pepper in its stead.

Stuffed Peppers Greek style

·       4 large green peppers

           make sure the bottoms are flat!

·       1 lb ground beef (or lamb)

          beef should have a minimum of 15% fat

·       2 large eggs

·       1 tablespoon oregano

·       1/2 teaspoon salt

·       3 cloves garlic, minced

·       1/2 onion, minced

·       6 basil leaves, chopped fine

·       1 cup half cooked rice, cooled

          make this using a 1 to one ratio of water to rice

·       olive oil

·       1/2 cup tomato sauce

·       1 small can tomato paste (or ketchup)

remove the stems and all seeds from the peppers

coat the outside of the peppers with olive oil

place upright in a 9 in x 9 in baking pan

(they should fit comfortably in the pan with out falling over)

mix the eggs, garlic, onion, oregano, salt, basil, tomato sauce and rice with the ground beef

stuff the peppers to just below the top of the opening with the meat mixture

cover the opening with tomato paste or ketchup

if using tomato paste - season it with additional oregano and salt and a bit of sugar

bake at 350 F for 1 hour

serve warm