Cheesy Orzo Stuffed Peppers

Ryan loves stuffed peppers.  He grew up with his Mom making the classic version with green peppers, rice and ground beef.  When Traina Foods enlisted my help to create a series of recipes featuring their Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup, for some reason my brain went to Italian style stuffed peppers.

Their ketchup is not like any other I have had and the thick consistency made me think it would be ideal as the sauce component.  I won’t lie, though, this recipe underwent four different tests.  I wanted to stuff the peppers with cheese, the sun dried tomato ketchup and pasta.  The tricky part was selecting the perfect pasta and the right cheese.  I wanted these to be comforting and to hold together nicely when cut into with a fork.  I went from shells, to small shells to macaroni until I finally landed on orzo.  It’s small enough to bind well with the other stuffing ingredients and the Boursin cheese is salty and creamy, contrasting with the tang of the ketchup.  I am currently obsessed with Boursin cheese.  It’s a fresh soft cheese, loaded with herbs.  Needless to say, after iterations of stuffed peppers, Ryan has had his fill for a while.

(full printable recipe located at the bottom of this post)

Start by preheating the oven to 450F.  Then prep your two peppers by slicing them down the middle lengthwise from the base.  Remove the seeds and the white membrane.

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a large pan and saute 1/4 of one diced yellow onion until it’s fragrant, then add in 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 cup diced zucchini, 1 cup diced button mushrooms, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp smoked paprika and 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar.  Once the mushrooms and zucchini are soft, stir in 3/4 cup of Traina Food Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup, 3/4 cup orzo pasta (prepared), 2 Tbs minced fresh basil and 1/2 of a 5.2 oz Boursin cheese.

Next, fill each of the halved peppers with the orzo mixture.  Pile it up and use up all of the filling.  Cover them with foil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 450F.

After 25 minutes, remove the peppers from the oven and discard the tin foil.  Top the peppers with dots of the remaining Boursin cheese.  Place oven temp on broil and place the peppers under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.

Serve garnished with extra basil.

*Original recipe by Joanie Simon (joaniesimon.com)

*This post was created for and sponsored by Traina Foods, creators of Sun Dried Tomato Ketchup