How to Make One-Pan Stuffed Pepper Casserole

All Recipes

Love the flavor of stuffed peppers, but not all the work? In this video, Chef John shows you how to make a one-pan stuffed pepper casserole that delivers all the classic flavors with minimal cleanup afterwards! Diced bell peppers, tender rice, and hearty ground beef baked together and topped with white cheddar makes for the perfect weeknight meal!

Transcript

00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with One Pan Stuffed Pepper Casserole.

00:08That's right, we're going to make it in one pan and bake it in one pan.

00:13And if you're a fan of beef and rice stuffed peppers, you're going to love this easier, less fussy version

00:18since this casserole delivery system delivers the same taste and texture with no actual stuffing involved.

00:25And to get started, we'll go ahead and cut up our bell peppers, and by far the easiest method to do that

00:31is to cut both ends off the pepper like this, about a half inch or so from the end,

00:37and we'll go ahead and set those two pieces aside for now.

00:40And once that's done, we will cut straight down, and then we'll turn it on its side,

00:45and we'll simply cut through all the membranes that hold the pepper together while we unroll it,

00:50which is going to give us a long, beautiful seed-free strip.

00:53And then what we'll do is cut that in half, and trim out any excess membrane if we want,

00:58which is optional and not really necessary.

01:01And then what we'll do is cut these pieces into smaller strips.

01:04And then all we need to do is turn those strips and slice across into about one inch pieces.

01:10And I was just about to say this is the easiest way for a beginner to cut a pepper,

01:14which it is, but it's also the best way for a professional chef to cut a pepper.

01:18And of course, the more strips you cut at once, the faster this goes.

01:21But this is only going to take a few minutes, so if you just want to do two or three at a time, that's fine.

01:27And once that's done, we'll take the end pieces and cut those into a similar size.

01:31And if there's a tiny black speck on the end of the pepper where the flour used to attach,

01:36we could trim that off if it bothers us, which apparently it did me.

01:40Oh, and I should mention, I do love to use a serrated knife for peppers,

01:44since the skins are really tough, and most folks' dull kitchen knives are going to struggle with that.

01:50But no matter what you use, we'll cut up three or four bell peppers, depending on the size.

01:56And then we'll head to the stove, where we're going to add a pound of ground beef to a skillet,

02:00in which we put a little bit of olive oil.

02:02And we'll toss in a nice big pinch of salt.

02:05And over high heat, we will start breaking this meat up,

02:08since the first step is to brown this with some onions.

02:11But I find it much easier to break the meat up a little bit first, before we add the onions in.

02:16Otherwise, as I've learned the hard way, they tend to fly out of the pan.

02:20So I like to work the meat over with a spatula a little bit, before adding those in.

02:25And then what we'll do is continue to cook this, while crumbling the meat into smaller pieces.

02:30And we will do that for about five or six minutes, or however long it takes to get some nice color on the meat.

02:37Right, this step is called browning, not graying, not tanning.

02:41It's called browning.

02:42So please take your time, and make sure you get a little bit of color on the meat,

02:46which always, every time, makes it taste better.

02:49And once we're happy with that, we will stop and toss in some butter,

02:52as well as a fair amount of crushed garlic.

02:55And we'll reduce our heat to medium-high.

02:58And we will cook this stirring for about a minute, or until that butter melts in.

03:03And once that happens, we'll go ahead and season this up,

03:05with some freshly ground black pepper,

03:08a little bit of smoked paprika, although regular is fine.

03:12And we'll also do a little bit of garlic powder,

03:15plus a few shakes of cayenne, because why not?

03:18And what we'll do is stir those in, and cook this for about a minute.

03:21Just to kind of wake them up, and infuse them into that oil and beef fat.

03:27And once that's been accomplished, we can add our bell peppers to the pan.

03:31And we'll go ahead and stir those in.

03:33And then we'll cook this for about two or three minutes.

03:36Basically, just until those peppers are heated through.

03:39Okay, we don't really need them to soften,

03:41since this whole thing is going to get baked in the oven.

03:43But I do like to cook them for a couple minutes, just to take off the raw edge.

03:48At which point, I like to transfer in my rice,

03:50and give that a quick stir for about a minute.

03:53Since I think if we coat the rice with the fat in the pan,

03:56the texture of our final product's a little nicer,

03:59and a little more pilaf-like,

04:01where the rice gets beautifully tender, yet still holds its shape.

04:04So, like I said, that step is optional.

04:07But personally, I do think it's worth the extra minute.

04:10And that's it.

04:11We'll go ahead and add in the rest of our salt,

04:13along with a splash of Worcestershire sauce,

04:16followed by a couple cups of tomato sauce,

04:18or pretty much any tomato product.

04:21And then we'll finish up with our beef broth,

04:23which could also be chicken broth.

04:25They both will actually work fine in this.

04:28And what we'll do is stir all that together,

04:29and we'll raise our heat to high,

04:31since we want to bring this up to a simmer,

04:33before we cover it and pop it in the oven.

04:36And by the way, if you don't have a pan like this,

04:38that can go straight in the oven from the stove,

04:41just simply do this in a regular skillet,

04:43and then transfer everything into a casserole dish.

04:46And the final product will be the same,

04:48but with a slightly different name.

04:50But anyway, once our pan's bubbling,

04:52we'll go ahead and turn off the heat,

04:54and we'll go ahead and transfer over our cheese.

04:57But not all of it.

04:58We're going to save some for the top,

05:00which, as you'll see, will stay on the top.

05:03But with this portion of the cheese,

05:04we're going to take a spoon and kind of poke and stir that in.

05:07And by the way, I'm using a nice white cheddar for this.

05:10But if you wanted, you could use half cheddar,

05:13and then half something more mild,

05:14like a Monterey Jack or a mozzarella.

05:17All right, as usual, the exact cheeses are up to you.

05:20I mean, you are after all the Chef John Stan

05:23of making stuffed pepper casserole in one pan.

05:25And that's it.

05:27Once that's been poked and stirred in,

05:29we'll go ahead and cover that tightly,

05:30and we will transfer that into the upper center

05:33of a 375-degree oven for about 45 minutes,

05:37at which point we'll pull it out,

05:40uncover it, and do two things.

05:42Well, maybe two things.

05:44Right?

05:44That depends on the first thing,

05:46which is to take a spoon and test the doneness of the rice,

05:50which should be just tender by now.

05:51And if it is, and mine was,

05:55we can apply the rest of our cheese over the top.

05:58But if your rice is not quite cooked yet,

06:00you can just cover it back up

06:02and pop it in the oven until it is.

06:04But anyway, once the rice is tender,

06:06and this has been topped with cheese,

06:08we will pop this under the broiler uncovered

06:10for a couple minutes,

06:12just to melt the cheese,

06:13and maybe have it get a little bit golden brown,

06:15which you can also do in a hot oven,

06:18like 475 for about 5 or 10 minutes,

06:21at which point, if everything goes according to plan,

06:23it should look like this.

06:25Oh yeah, that is beautiful,

06:27and way, way too hot to eat,

06:29so I think we should let this sit

06:30for at least 10 minutes before we serve up.

06:33But hang on, I forgot a very, very important thing.

06:36Anytime we take a pan out of the oven

06:38that has a handle, or handles,

06:40we always place towels over those,

06:42because if you don't, someone will grab them,

06:44and they will burn themselves,

06:45and it will be your fault.

06:47So please play it safe.

06:49And that's it, I went ahead and let mine rest,

06:52and removed the towels,

06:53since I'm the only one in the kitchen,

06:55and then I finished this up

06:56with some freshly chopped Italian parsley,

06:59and after taking way too many

07:00contractually obligated pictures,

07:02I grabbed a spoon and served some up.

07:05And some of these recipes I do

07:06are a little bit challenging

07:07to describe the taste and texture,

07:10but this one is not.

07:12Right, that, my friends,

07:13tastes exactly like a beef and rice stuffed pepper,

07:16except because we have more surface area with this,

07:19it might actually even be a little bit better,

07:21and more flavorful.

07:23Which reminds me,

07:24this is more of an idea than a specific recipe,

07:27so whatever you usually put in your stuffed peppers

07:29will work with this technique.

07:31Oh, and do not let this little sample plate fool you.

07:34I'm usually enjoying a slightly larger portion,

07:37next to a nice big green salad,

07:39since this is a fairly rich dish,

07:41so I think enjoying it next to some crunchy greens

07:43is a great idea.

07:45But no matter how you serve it,

07:47if you're a fan of stuffed bell peppers,

07:49and you're a fan of just making things with one pan,

07:52I really do hope you give this a try soon.

07:55So please follow the links below

07:57for the ingredient amounts,

07:58a printable written recipe,

08:00and much more info as usual.

08:01And as always, enjoy.

08:06Enjoy.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended