The highlight of any party cuisine is often the finger food — and today, we're cooking up something hot, juicy, and sweet! With an extra burst of pizazz (and four thick, mouthwatering pinches of bacon strips), you too can provide a plate of scrumptiously stuffed sweet mini peppers for any get-together, from a homegating party to the biggest game of the season! Better still, this is one you can start a few days early and wrap up just in time to still come out fresh. After all, why cut into that primo pregame time with friends and family?
Ingredients
Ingredients for Stuffed Peppers
- 20 sweet mini peppers
- 1 lb ground chuck
- 4 bacon strips, thick-cut
- 1 yellow onion
- 12 cups water
- 2 cups brown rice
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1–2 pinches coarse salt
- 1–2 pinches black pepper
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 4 cloves minced garlic, fresh
- ¼ bunch parsley
- 8 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Items You'll Need
Instructions
Instructions for Stuffed Peppers
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, using about 6 cups water per 1 cup rice. Under running water, rinse the rice in a colander to remove excess starch; this will keep the end result from coming out thicker and gloopier than you’d want to stuff those peppers.
- Gently slip the rice into the boiling water, then lower the temperature as necessary to prevent it flowing over. You’ll want the rice to maintain a steady boil. Boil, uncovered, for about half an hour.
- As the water boils, bisect 20 mini peppers long ways and scoop out the piths and seeds — if you happen to have one laying around, a serrated grapefruit spoon really speeds this task right up.
- Drain off the remaining water, then return the rice to the pot. Cover the pot and let the rice rest, off the heat, for 10 minutes before fluffing it. Set the rice aside — but don’t you worry. We’re about to make great use of it.
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Introduce the ground chuck and bacon to that pan, then brown them until nearly cooked through. Drain the rendered fat and excess oil, then return the pan to the burner.
- Add the onion and the regular bell peppers, then continue sautéing until caramelized.
- Drop the fire to medium-low heat. Add the salt, black and white pepper, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, cooked brown rice, and chopped parsley. Continue cooking for another 2–3 minutes; allow the flavors to blend and meld together.
- Remove from the fire and allow mixture to cool for 10 minutes before transferring it to the bowl of a food processor. Lightly pulse everything a few times until it resembles a very coarse meal. This will help everything pack well and stay together when stuffing.
- Pour everything into a large mixing bowl, then begin folding in crumbled goat cheese until well-incorporated and dispersed throughout the stuffing.
- If you are preparing the peppers immediately, this is a great time to preheat your grill. Set it up for direct medium-high heat.Now, if you’d rather finish preparing them in the next two days — any longer than that is just asking for poor results — you can now wrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Simply remove the pan from the refrigerator, allowing it to warm upabout 20 minutes before grilling.
- Use a tablespoon to generously stuff each pepper. And we do mean generously. Try to over-stuff these bad boys until the stuffing peeks out roughly a quarter-inch over the cut edge of the pepper.
- Grill the peppers for a few minutes, stuffed side up. You’re looking for char marks to appear on the bottom of the peppers. Remove those tasty stuffed peppers, plate them on a large platter, and serve immediately!