Italian Stuffed Peppers are a low-carb way to get your lasagna fix. A delicious mix of ground beef, orzo & tomato sauce is stuffed into tri-color peppers, topped with cheese and baked. Just 45 minutes and it's on the table.
¾cupuncooked orzo,cooked according to package directions (quinoa or zoodles for gluten-free)
½cupricotta cheese
8ozmozzarellashredded
½zucchinidiced
3tomatoesdiced
2cupsfavorite pasta sauce
¼cupParmesan cheesegrated (or Pecorino Romano)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a rectangular baking dish that will hold all the peppers by spraying with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Wash the peppers then cut the tops off. Remove the membrane and seeds. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop in the peppers and parboil for 5 minutes. Remove and turn upside down to drain.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add ground beef and spices and cook until meat is brown and cooked through.
Drain meat and pour into large bowl. Add cooked orzo, ricotta, half of the mozzarella, zuchini, tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. Stir to combine.
Stuff peppers and place in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the tops with Parmesan cheese and remaining mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes. Serve hot alongside some warm crusty bread.
Notes
VARIATIONS
Instead of beef - use ground chicken, turkey, pork or Italian sausage
More Veggies - try adding corn, mushrooms, spinach, kale either in place of zucchini or in addition to it
Change out the orzo - for quinoa, rice, couscous, barley, riced cauliflower or farrow
Cheeses - use your favorite cheeses such as fontina, pepper jack or sharp cheddar (a little less Italian but still delicious)
Like it spicy? - add red pepper flakes
Don't like bell peppers? Just prepare the filling, cooking some diced peppers (optional) in with the onion and garlic, browning the ground beef, then adding to orzo-cheese mixture. Pour into a casserole dish that has been coated with non-stick spray and bake as directed in recipe.
Keto Stuffed Peppers – change out the orzo for riced cauliflower and you have the perfect keto meal. To make it lower carb, switch the sweet bell peppers to green bell peppers.
Low Carb Stuffed Peppers – follow much the same swaps as keto stuffed peppers. You can also lower the carb count by opting for cream cheese, cottage cheese, goat cheese or spinach and artichoke dip in lieu of the ricotta cheese