Stuffed Peppers with Whole Wheat Orzo

Just the other night I made a huge pot of marinara sauce.  I used some for one meal, froze two containers, and still had leftover sauce.  Also, I had some leftover orzo pasta.  This recipe for stuffed peppers is a result of my leftover ingredients.  You can use your favorite jarred marinara sauce, or make your own, either will work. 

In the past, I made my stuffed peppers with ground sirloin, but keeping with a healthier diet I used ground turkey this time. Trying to keep with a low fat diet, I find that my main go-to protein is ground turkey.  I don’t know about you, but I feel it can be challenging to come up with recipes for ground turkey. Turkey has such a unique flavor profile that, at times, it is hard to change up.   And, the texture is much tenderer than other types of ground meat so you cannot mix it too much.  I try to change it up and boost the flavor by adding different seasonings and ingredients.  In this recipe, I toasted dry fennel seeds and dried rosemary; the ground turkey took on a sausage like flavor.

 Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers with Whole Wheat Orzo

Serves 3-6 people (1 – 1 ½ pepper per person - these are quite filling)

1 ½ cup Cooked whole wheat orzo pasta that has been prepared al dente and cooled

1 ½ Tsp.  Dried fennel seeds
1 Tsp. Dried rosemary
3 Medium bell peppers; all green or all red, or a combination of both
1 Lb. Ground turkey
1 Tsp. Garlic powder
Tsp. Dried basil
1 ½ Tsp. Worchester sauce
1 egg slightly beaten
3 cups Marinara sauce; your favorite low fat and lower sodium variety (or homemade); divided use
½ Cup Shredded mozzarella cheese, low moisture, part-skim variety

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In a small skillet, add the fennel seeds and rosemary; place skillet over medium heat.  Toast the dried herbs just until you begin to smell them.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Remove the stems from the peppers and cut them in half lengthwise.  Gently clean out the seeds and membrane from the inside of each half. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the turkey, toasted herbs, garlic powder, basil Worchester sauce, ½ cup marinara sauce,  and egg; mix to combine.  Add the orzo and mix until all is thoroughly incorporated.  In the mixing bowl, divide the meat mixture into six equal portions. 

Place ½ cup marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.  With a tablespoon, fill each pepper with the meat mixture and place each cut side up in the bottom of the baking dish.  Once all peppers are filled, spoon one cup of marinara sauce over the top of each pepper.  Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, take the dish out of the oven, spoon some marinara sauce from the bottom of the baking dish over each pepper.  Lightly cover the dish with foil and return it to the oven.  Cook for another 30 minutes. 

Remove the dish from the oven, take off the foil, and top each pepper with the shredded mozzarella.  Return the uncovered dish to the oven for about 5 minutes, just long enough to melt the cheese.

Serve the last one cup of marinara sauce in a serving dish on the table.