Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed Peppers

Hello friends! Up on deck today, a vegetarian stuffed pepper. Filled to the brim with marinara sauce, rice, spinach, mushrooms, panko, and of course, cheese! These are a great alternative to the standard stuffed pepper that is usually filled with a meat mixture. Use leftover rice, and you've really got yourself a meal that seems like it would take a long time but actually comes together very fast.

These could actually be considered a one pot meal. I actually ate one whole pepper, and the filling from another. What? Two whole peppers would have been too much, and that filling? Hard to stay away from. Haha.

I actually set out to make kind of a Mexican-stuffed pepper. At least, that was my original intention. Then I sat down with the recipe that I'd chosen, and I realized I didn't want to do all that work. The recipe required making a sauce in the food processor. Now, my dishwasher was almost full, which means I would have had to wash the food processor by hand.

Ummmmm, no. Heavens no, not the hand wash.

Immediately, I decided to use marinara. I had a 3-cup bag in the freezer, which turned out to be perfect. However, now my Mexican peppers were Italian. I wasn't too upset, as mushrooms, spinach, and rice go just as well with an Italian sauce as they do a Mexican sauce. I threw the Mexican cheese back in the fridge, and grabbed some mozzarella. Screw the store bought cilantro, I thought, as I put it back in the crisper drawer. I pranced outside and cut some fresh parsley.

There. Now I had myself Italian ingredients instead of Mexican.

First, hollow out those peppers. After I'd already made my peppers, I noticed most people online cut their peppers in half lengthwise, rather than slicing off the top. Ce la vie. You can stuff lots of filling in the peppers if you slice the tops off.

A huge time-saver, pre-made marinara.

I used about 1 1/2 cups of leftover white rice.

First, you start off by warming a little olive oil in a skillet. When warm, add the onions and mushrooms. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, or until mushrooms start to soften. Add marinara and rice to the skillet, and stir until warm. Stir in the spinach. Stir in lots of cheese, and finally some panko.

You are ready to stuff those peppers.

A skillet of rice-veggie mixture perfectly filled the peppers, with a small amount of leftovers that I may or may not have scarfed down right on the spot. I topped them with a little more panko, and a little more cheese. You can never have enough cheese, am I right?

That fresh parsley I was talking about.

Dinner iz served.

Ok, I know I'll get an email from my dad if I don't mention this, but iz is the slang word for is. Why don't I just use the correct term?

Cuz I'm the writer, and I can slang if I want to! (shakes fist at sky)

Guess what friends? The hubby is on vacation! He doesn't have to go back to work for 2 whole weeks. Yippee! We officially have no plans. I plan on making him run quite a bit though, so we can enter a turkey trot of some sorts closer to Thanksgiving. Other fun vacation plans include giving the dogs a bath and cleaning the basement. Doesn't that sound like a fun vacation? Don't worry, I'll bake him some sort of treat to make up for all the work I make him do :-)

Mwhahahaha.

Have a great day everyone!

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 1/2 cups Marinara (substitute your favorite jarred sauce here if desired)
1 1/2 cups white rice, cooked
8 ounces fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (plus more for topping)
2-3 tablespoons panko (plus a little more for topping)
4 bell peppers, hollowed out
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly coat a 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray, set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. When warm, add onions and mushrooms. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, or until veggies soften. Add marinara, stir to combine. Add rice, stir to combine.
3. When marinara mixture is warm, add fresh spinach. Stir for 1-2 minutes, or until spinach starts to wilt. Remove pan from heat, stir in cheese and panko.
4. Place bell peppers in prepared pan. Divide rice mixture between the 4 peppers. Top each pepper with a little more panko and a little more cheese. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Remove aluminum foil from pan. Place pan back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and peppers are tender. Remove pan from oven, top peppers with a little fresh parsley. Serve immediately!

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum.

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these-

Baked Jalapeño Poppers with Raspberry Dipping Sauce

Cheesy Eggplant and Orzo Casserole

Eggs Poached in Marinara with Arugula

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