Orzo Stuffed Peppers

I haven't been the most reliable foodblogger lately. Adjusting to the working world, combined with wedding planning and living everyday life has left me less time to blog. But, I knew I couldn't miss out on the Italian Festival.

For the second year, Maryann of Finding la Dolce Vita and Marie of Proud Italian Cook are hosting Festa Italiana.


This recipe was inspired by a few stuffed pepper recipes I've come across. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find them in my Google Reader (if my home looked like my Google Reader, I would definitely be in the 'horder' category). One definite source of inspiration was Giada's Orzo Stuffed Peppers. Here's what I did.

Orzo Stuffed Peppers


2-3 peppers
500 ml ground turkey
1 cup orzo
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1.5 cups of chicken broth
2-3 garlic, shallots, minced
basil, pepper, oregano, chili peppers, to taste
parmesan cheese, to taste

Brown turkey along with minced garlic and shallots. Once the turkey is close to being cooked through, add diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add orzo to mixture and let it cook until soft. Meanwhile, add dried herbs and pepper. Clean out desired number of peppers. I used two, but had enough stuffing for four peppers. I also decided to stuff the peppers open-faced for more crusting on top (and because I didn't want a whole pepper). Once stuffed, add a generous layer of parmesan cheese on top.


Bake in over until cheese had browned (approximately 15-20 minutes) at 350F. I may have also gotten a bit impatient and broiled them for a couple of minutes.

Verdict -- the peppers were really good, suprisingly easy to make and still good as leftovers the next day.