Polenta Stuffed Sweet Bell Peppers

Submitted by Julesong

"I've made these several times, and they're quite tasty! You can either use your own cooked polenta or commercially packaged cooked polenta, whichever you prefer."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 4 large red bell peppers, suitable for stuffing
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, diced small
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 roma tomatoes, diced small
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced basil
• 3 drops balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cups cooked polenta or (1 lb) package pre-cooked polenta
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• paprika

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds and membranes from the inside; set aside.
3. Saute the garlic, green onion, and zucchini in the oil over medium heat until the zucchini starts to soften; add the tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper, and heat for 5 minutes.
4. While that's cooking, if you're using commercially packaged cooked polenta remove it from the packaging and briefly microwave for 2 to 3 minutes to soften.
5. Stir the cooked polenta and cumin into the vegetable mixture until well incorporated, then removed from the heat and stir in the mozzarella.
6. Fill the peppers with the polenta mixture and sprinkle each with a tablespoon of Parmesan and a dash paprika.
7. Bake on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet at 350 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until pepper has reached desired texture.
8. Makes 4-6 servings (if you cut'em in half).

Reviews

[Catte Nappe]

This one moved to the "keeper" list. I skipped the basil (basil and cumin didn't sound like a combo to me), and didn't have any parmesan. Actually, next time I plan to go with a cheddar type cheese instead of the mozzarella. But there will be a next time! Well, my second try didn't use cheddar, but was even better than last time. I skipped the cumin; and used some provolone that I needed to finish up instead of the mozzarella. I think the key here is to not mix the "Mexican" and "Italian" flavors. If you use mozzarella and parmesan, leave out the cumin. If you prefer the cumin flavor, use cheddar, pepperjack, or something similar; and skip the basil and parm.

 

[dicentra]

Oh yummy!! Wow. This was so easy! I halved the recipe (DH won't eat this). My peppers were huge, so I cut them in half top to bottom, making 4 servings, which was perfect for me. DD liked the filling, but wasn't fond of the peppers. I liked how they still stayed a bit crunchy. I put the leftovers in the freezer for my lunches. I'll be making this again for sure. YUM! Thanks. :)

 

[dawnpelikan]

I made this recipe for the Freeze-it Tag, OAMC game and Just wanted to let you guys know it's excellent! I made two separate batches of the peppers. For the first batch i followed the instructions but did not cook them in the oven, I prepared and stuffed the peppers then put them in a rubbermaid freezer container without the parmesan cheese or paprika. After two days i removed them from the freezer and put them in a 9x9 square baking pan. I put approx 1/3 inch of water and covered tightly with aluminum foil. I baked them at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes i removed the foil and sprinkled the parmesan cheese and paprika on top and baked for another 10 minutes. They were delicious! For the second batch i prepared the recipe and cooked them. After cooking them i took two of the peppers and froze them in a Rubbermaid container as well. After two days i removed them and put them in an 8x8 baking pan with a 1/4 cup of water. I covered and sealed the peppers with aluminum foil and baked at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes. They did hold up well. If I did have a choice in the future on which way to freeze them I would do it the first way. Prepare the peppers and freeze before cooking. The texture of the pepper was much better. Anytime you freeze a pepper it will get "soggy" and sometimes the "skin" separates from the pulp of the pepper and isn't very appealing, but cooking it after freezing did prevent alot of that. I definately would recommend this recipe. I am not a vegetarian but it was delicious and a great way to get all your vegetables in your daily diet. You could also double the recipe easily and freeze half for another night before cooking. Delicious!