Stuffed Peppers

Here's a nice dish that has become a Sunday staple for us. Nice and filling, goes great by itself or with a side of pasta (and, of course, some red wine). One of my favorite dishes to end a long weekend!

There are a number of stuffing recipes to use for Stuffed Peppers. This recipe originally called for ground beef, but we like to use ground turkey. Ground sausage removed from it's casing would also work well and add a nice punch (hmmm..think I'll try that next time). I've only used rice as my base, but am interested in trying other stuffings (breadcrumbs, etc.). Do YOU have a good Stuffed Pepper recipe? If so, please pass along! Ciao!

STUFFED PEPPERS

1 pound ground turkey (or ground beef if you prefer)
1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 cup water
6 large or 8 small green bell peppers
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350º.
Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground turkey until evenly browned.
Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)
In a bowl, mix the browned ground turkey, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.
Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.