FOOD NEWS
The Unexpected Ingredient Rachael Ray Loves Putting In Stuffed Peppers
By Allison Lindsey
Stuffed peppers are a filling, hearty, and crowd-pleasing meal. Ordinary, protein-packed peppers are great, but Rachael Ray's Italian-inspired stuffed peppers call for pasta.
Ray blends ground pork, veal, and beef with rice, passata (tomato purée), parmesan cheese, broken spaghetti, herbs, and aromatics like onion, garlic, thyme, parsley, and celery.
The spaghetti provides a balanced texture, complementing the soft peppers and hearty filling. It also absorbs the seasonings and herbs, bringing a depth of flavor to each bite.
Ray recommends two pasta options in her recipe — broken spaghetti noodles or orzo. You can also use penne, macaroni elbows, and acini di pepe for more variety.
The bigger the pasta, the bigger the pepper needs to be. Ray uses mild Italian peppers for her recipe, but you can use spicy peppers like habanero or Anaheim peppers for heat.
If you don't want to use beef, swap in some pork, veal, turkey, or chicken. A vegan or vegetarian option could include legumes for protein and nutritional yeast instead of cheese.