Stuffed Peppers

I hadn't ever had a stuffed pepper until just about a year ago. And let me tell you, I fell in love. I don't know what it is about it, but we have these almost every other week. I never liked spicy food growing up, and this definitely has a kick to it, but it has the perfect proportion of tomatoes, cheese, rice and bell pepper in each bite. Mmm...

What you need:

2-6 green bell peppers (depending on how many people you're making these for)
1 lb. pork chorizo
1/2 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
1 can tomatoes
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 - 1 cup cooked white rice (depending on how many peppers you have to stuff- I'll explain later)
1 cup cheese

Cut the tops off the peppers and clean out the insides (remove seeds and white rinds on sides while keeping the pepper whole like a bowl) Boil peppers in water for around 15 minutes and set aside in a casserole dish.

While the peppers are boiling, brown chorizo. If you are using chorizo that has a casing, remove it before cooking it. You want it to be more like ground meat. We've found a very cheap chorizo brand at Walmart that is usually under $1 and doesn't have a casing. It is more like a spicy paste than a sausage. It comes in a plastic wrap with a green, red and white label. (Sorry for not having a picture- you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it though.) All you have to do is cut open one end and squeeze the chorizo out onto the pan. It doesn't "brown" when you cook it, so if you use that kind, don't worry about browning it first.

Add onions and garlic to skillet and cook until onions are soft. Season with a little salt and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, Worc. sauce and rice. Since there's usually only 2 of us, we only use about a 1/2 cup of rice so we don't have too much filling. But if you're making 4 or more peppers, use at least 1 cup of rice (you can add as much as you'd like to make more filling). Remove from heat and mix in cheese.

Stuff peppers and top with extra cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with a little bit of sour cream and sprinkle a little lime juice on and enjoy!

*An alternate recipe for those with children or who don't like too much spice:
Only use 1/2 - 1/4 of the chorizo (or none at all if you don't want it) and use 1 lb. ground beef. Just brown the beef, drain grease and then start adding the other ingredients as called for above.

This recipe will stuff about 4 medium sized peppers, so if there's only 2 of you, save the extra mixture and use it with some refried beans to make a great burrito.

Delicious!