Stuffed Peppers With Tortellini

Chef Jean's Note:

The green onions and dill in this are a great, unexpected maybe, combination of flavors. The tortellini on the plate with pepper because the juices from cooking the pepper will mix with pasta to really enhance the sauce. This recipe works best with red, yellow or orange bell pappers rather than green bells.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

PEPPERS

• 8 ounces ground beef
• 1/2 cup cheese tortellini
• 1 large green onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 large tomato, diced (about 1 cup)
• 3 tablespoons dill weed, chopped
• 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 large bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)

TORTELLINI

• 1 1/2 cups cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon dill weed, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook the 1/2 cup tortellini according to the package directions, leaving them slightly under done.
2. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients for the peppers, except the peppers. Adjust seaoning to your taste.
3. Cut the very tops off the peppers and remove the seeds and pith from the insides. You may need to trim a very small amout of the bottom to help them stand up on their own.
4. Stuff the peppers with the filling, packing it in and mounding it on top.
5. Bake in a 350 degree oven, I used a loaf pan for mine.
6. For crisp peppers bake uncovered for 45 minutes.
7. For a more tender pepper bake covered for 45 minutes, uncover and bake for 20 more minutes.
8. When the peppers for almost done prepare the 1 1/2 cups tortellini according to package directions. Drain and stir in the remaining ingredients.
9. Serve the pepper in the center of plate surrounded by the tortellini.

Reviews

[Chef PotPie]

This was a nice dinner. I usually salt the inside of my peppers lightly for stuffed peppers when I make them, and I would do this next time with these, as we thought it needed a bit more salt. I cut back on the dill in both the peppers and the tortellini. DH is very sensitive to tomatoes, (tummy), and he liked that the sauce was toned down with the ricotta. This dish made a very pretty presentation! Made for ZWT 7 - Shady Ladies

[FrenchBunny]

This was a flavorful dish. The stuffing was very tasty. But the serving can definitely be halved. Half a pepper each is more than enough with the tortellini on the side. There were 3 of us and we barely could eat the half a pepper, so very filling. I found it needed alot of salt and pepper in the filling otherwise the flavor was delicious. Was hard for me to find the creme fraiche but managed to find it at Whole Foods. The only thing we didn't care for was the sauce mix for the tortellini seemed to be very blah for us. The cooking time is off for sure. It only took 45 minutes to cook the peppers not 2 hours. Good luck in the contest.

[Susie D]

This was so flavorful & a definite keeper! Very filling too. I ended up with one red & one green pepper so cut them in half & served one of each color on the plates. I was using dried dill weed so reduced the amount to 1 t in the filling and there was a nice hint of it. (I also reduced the amount in the tortellini.) Served with green salad and garlic bread. Good luck in the contest!