Italian Style Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

We like peppers. And cheese. A lot. Hence this recipe, which we pretty much threw together in a few hours. And it came out pretty amazing.

Ingredients:

2 red (or whatever color you want) bell peppers
2 cups of cooked rice
3/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs
2 tbsp of fresh basil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 pound of fresh mozzarella (cause it melts better than regular)
A pinch of pepper
Salt to taste.

We forgot to put the peppers in the ingredients pictures, so we figured these babies dressed as peppers were good enough.

Anyways start cooking the rice, you'll need it to be warm when you put the mozzarella in.

Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Then cut the peppers in half from top to bottom and take out the stems, membranes and seeds.


Next roll the basil up in a little bundle and slice it up as small as you can. John didn't roll the basil up though, he didn't want to listen to me.



Now chop up the garlic, and since John doesn't have a fancy-schmancy garlic press like I do, we used the flat of his butcher knife to smush it after chopping it into tiny bits.




Then dump your panko into a mixing bowl...



... And the stuff you just chopped up:



Next put the thyme and oregano and parsley in the bowl and grate the parmesan. If you're rebels like us you'll eyeball your measurements like so:


Ok next you mix everything up and dump the warm rice in it. Note: if you made rice beforehand, just reheat it in the microwave so it'll be hot enough to melt the cheese.


Then, mix it!



And now, take the mozarella and start ripping it into bits (or cut it if you're a lame-o and don't feel like getting your hands dirty).


Then, stir until the mozzarella's all incorporated and stuff. Or, if you're like me, attempt to stir this thick mixture, then give up and ask your boyfriend to be all manly and strong and stir it for you. Which he may do quite well, as in this case:


Almost ready to bake! Now, just coat a baking sheet/pan with some sort of oil. We used olive oil because it's the only thing John had, but it would probably be better to use canola or vegetable oil because these oils have lower flashpoints. Also, rub/brush some oil on the peppers and salt them a bit.


Then, stuff them and put some more panko and parmesan on the top to give them a nice crust:


Last, bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until tops are all golden:


And eat them, maybe like we did with fancy-flavored Goya sodas:




*No babies were harmed in the making of this blog post.