Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I bought some beautiful Poblano peppers are my local farm stand the other day, and the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw them was stuffed peppers. Stuffed peppers can be made in so many different ways and you will find endless recipes on how they can be prepared. It's a great dish because you can really change things to your liking and make it completely your own recipe without messing anything up. There's no real wrong way to stuff a pepper. However, the basics usually include some sort of meat (usually beef but I've seen chicken, shrimp, and pork used as stuffing) along with rice. The rest of the ingredients that you choose to use can be to your taste. I prefer a mexican flare to my peppers so I'm using black beans, chili powder, salsa, etc. Additionally, the type of pepper that is to be stuffed is up to you. It's very common to see bell peppers used in this role and they work well because the amount of space within the pepper is perfect for lots of filling. I chose Poblanos not only because they were fresh at the farm stand, but because I prefer the slightly sweeter taste of the Poblano over the bell pepper, but feel free to use whatever your palette prefers.

As I said, this recipe is really great if you want to get creative. So if you want more spice add more chili powder or hot sauce, if you want a more Italian feel then skip the beans and add some marinara and basil. Whatever you feel is right in your tummy, follow it. Here is one of my stuffed peppers recipes:

Ingredients:
6 Poblano peppers
3/4 lb of ground beef
2 cups of rice
1 cup of corn
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup of black beans
3 tbs hot sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes or tomato sauce
2 tbs chili powder
2 tbs onion powder
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs cumin
1 1/2 of any shredded cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add beef, beans, corn, spices, canned tomatoes, and hot sauce. Once meat has been cooked through and no longer pink in color, add the ricotta cheese and rice. Stir all ingredients together until thoroughly combined and add salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat and set aside while preparing peppers.

Usually you will see the tops cut off of peppers for stuffing, however with a Poblano it's easer to cut the pepper lengthwise in order to stuff it. It also makes for a nicer presentation of the dish in my opinion. Just use a sharp knife to cut the pepper lengthwise and scrap out all the seeds and filling. You can choose to cut off the stems of the pepper if you wish, or leave them on.

Once peppers have been cut open, proceed with stuffing the peppers with the filling. You want the filling to be heaping over the pepper, they should look overstuffed. You may have some left over filling depending on the size of your peppers, don't worry. This filling is great to use in tacos or burritos, so if you have left overs just save them in an air tight container in the refrigerator to be used in the next few nights for a taco dinner.

Place filled peppers in a over proof baking dish, spacing peppers slightly apart from one another. Once all peppers are in the dish, top with your choice of shredded cheese.

Cover the baking dish with a piece of tented tin foil and place in oven. The peppers should cook for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the cheese has melted and the peppers are fork tender, remove from oven. You can top peppers with your favorite salsa, mole, or tomato sauce, but I prefer them just as they are. Enjoy!