Stuffed Peppers With Orzo and Beef

Remember when Stuffed Green Peppers were a thing of horror?

Usually over-cooked, limp, bitter green peppers with a rather tasteless stuffing, featuring Minute Rice,  smothered in faux cheese and tomato sauce, they were not a favorite.

Now I love stuffed peppers of any color and any flavor. I make them often in the fall.

Oriental Style has a stir-fried filling; Beef, Barley and Mushroom is finished with a yogurt sauce; Americas Style is closer to the traditional American version of my childhood, but uses quinoa.

This one uses some of the wonderful spices I bought in Morocco.

Stuffed Yellow Peppers, with Beef and Orzo

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6oz (180gr) ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 slices ginger, minced (1 – 1 1/2 tbs)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups (16oz, 450gr) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/3 cup (3oz, 90gr) orzo
• 1/3 cup Greek olives, chopped
• 1/3 cup feta, crumbled
• 2 nicely shaped yellow bell peppers

Instructions:

• Put a large pot of water on high heat and bring to a boil.
• Cut peppers in half the long way (try to find the best flat sides before cutting so that they will lay nicely) and remove stem end and seeds.
• When water is boiling drop peppers in and simmer for 8 minutes.
• Remove (use tongs) and put into a baking dish that will just hold them (if possible).
• Keep water boiling and add orzo, cook according to package directions (usually 8 – 10 minutes). Drain in a strainer if your colander has big holes.
• In nonstick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add onion and sauté until transparent, about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, ginger, paprika, cumin, mustard and cinnamon. Sauté 1 minute.
• Add beef and sauté until cooked through, breaking it up as it cooks.
• Add tomatoes, reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes or until needed.
• When ready remove from heat and stir in orzo, olives and feta.
• Spoon mixture into the pepper halves.
• Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 400F (200C).
• Remove from oven and serve.

Note: If all the stuffing doesn't fit into the peppers, keep warm over very low heat while peppers bake. Serve on the side.

Print Recipe

Did I forget to mention shopping in Marrakesh?

Yes, of course I bought pointy-toed slippers and wide-legged pants and earrings…. I did spend rather a lot of time in the souks, after all.

But it was the little ceramic bowls and the spices that kept drawing me back.The spices were amazing – such strong aromas that make anything I buy here in France positively insipid.

The cumin (yellow bowl) was double-bagged in plastic and I could still smell it through the suitcase. What a wonderful scent.

And the cinnamon (orange)….. I could move to Marrakesh just to get cinnamon like this all the time. I would eat oatmeal 3 times a day just to have this cinnamon on it.

I also bought saffron (blue & white bowl) and za'atar (herbs in blue bowl).

The za'atar in the souks is the herb (I learned) not the 'condiment' which is what I have purchased here in France in the past. The herb is similar to a wild, mountain thyme.

And it is….

Wild, I mean.

When the young man put it in the bag for me he made sure that I could tell the difference between the herbs and the sticks or stems that were in the mix.

He pulled out the leaves and said "za'atar".

The he pulled out a stick and said "not za'atar".

I may be a bit slow sometimes, but I think I got it.

However…..

Did I forget to mention shopping in Barcelona?

In the big market in Barcelona, Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria I found za'atar, the condiment. It's in the jar in front and you can see the sesame seeds in it.

It does not have sticks.

Something that I couldn't find in the souks in Marrakesh was sumac. No one had heard of it.

But I found it in Barcelona and very different from what I had previously from France. The tube is the sumac I bought here. The dark red crystals are what I bought in Barcelona.

Just when I think I know stuff…..

Since I was in Spain it only seemed right to buy a big tin of smoked paprika.

I'm ready for winter cooking.

Last update on November 15, 2015

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Source: https://thymeforcookingblog.com/2015/11/stuffed-yellow-peppers-with-beef-and-orzo/

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