It’s sort of funny, I have a couple of favorite meals that my Mom used to make when Dana and I were growing up, like goulash and pot roast. However, one other meal that my Mom tended to make pretty regularly was meatloaf; I did not like meatloaf. A loaf of meat? No, loaves should be comprised of delicious bread, not ground meat. Two other things that meatloaf has in common with my other family favorites is that it’s classic comfort food and a staple in our hometown of Ely. Fall always seems like the perfect time for comfort food, the crisp weather and falls colors on the trees makes me crave warm, nostalgic food. So, I was surprised one day when I was caught by a recipe that my cousin, Taryn, pinned, for meatloaf wrapped in a bell pepper. Not a stuffed pepper, but little, mini meatloaves wrapped in a ring of pepper!
It seemed like a perfect meal to make on one of my fall flex days. I made some minor changes from the original recipe on Pinterest; I started with my mom’s meatloaf recipe, but used half ground beef and half ground turkey, used Nature’s Seasoning instead of pepper, and added garlic. I decided to blog it half way through making the mini meatloaves, so there aren’t any pictures of the initial steps. Good thing the first steps are really easy! The whole thing is really easy actually.
First thing you need to do is cut a thin chunk off the top and bottom of the peppers, and take out the seeds and ribs. Then cut each bell pepper into three thick rings, set them aside on a baking sheet.
Next is the kind of fun part: in a big bowl, use your hands to mix together the ground meats, chopped onion, breadcrumbs, seasoning, eggs, and minced garlic.
Then, stuff about a handful of the meat mixture into each of the pepper rings, leaving a bit of a mound on top.
In a frying pan, over medium-heat, sprayed with cooking spray, brown each of the mini loaves on each side (about 3-4 minutes per side).
Place the browned mini loaves into a baking dish. I decided to try two options, one with the crushed tomato topping, like the recipe, and one traditional.
Then bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese.
They turn out nice and soft, enjoy like you would regular meatloaf, with a plate and fork 🙂
That’s it! Both of my options were good, but I think I do like the traditional option a bit better, makes sense because I’m a traditionalist 🙂
- 4 bell peppers
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb lean ground turkey
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- 1.5 teaspoons seasoning (I used Nature's Seasoning)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- Parmesan cheese
- Slice the top and bottom off the peppers, then cut each pepper into three thick rings
- Mix all other ingredients (except Parmesan cheese) in a large bowl, using your hands to mix it well
- Stuff ~3/4 cup of the meat mixture into each pepper ring
- Brown each pepper ring in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, about 3-4 minutes per side
- Place the browned pepper rings into a baking dish
- Top with crushed tomatoes (optional)
- Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes
- Pull out of the oven and top with Parmesan cheese (optional)
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