Crazy for Bell Peppers

I don't know what's with me lately but I have been hankering for bell peppers since Tuesday! I even cooked stuffed Bell Peppers last night thinking that maybe after that I would be satisfied and then I'll stop salivating at the mere thought of another bell pepper-enriched recipe, but I think the quest for more viands with bell peppers got worse! Hmmm... maybe I'll have to excercise extra will-power... hehehe! Anyways, as part of my self-therapy to wean myself from this craving for bell peppers I am posting here the recipe for Stuffed Bell Peppers that I cooked last night:

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS WITH MEAT GRAVY

8 Bell peppers, lg. for stuffing
3 tbsp. bacon grease
½ K ham cubes, chopped in food processor
1 c. Bell pepper, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed then minced
1 kilo ground beef
4 pcs. of loaf bread, soaked then torn in sm. pieces
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 cans tomato sauce
3 cans water
Angel hair pasta
Parmesan cheese

Cut tops of Bell peppers off, clean out inside and wash. In very large pot filled with water, boil the Bell peppers for 20 minutes or until just tender- crisp. Do not over cook or the peppers will split up the sides. Drain peppers and set aside. In large deep saucepan, heat bacon grease. Add ham and cook for 5 minutes. Remove 2 tablespoons of Bell pepper, onion, celery, green pepper, onion, celery, green onions and garlic to ham and saute over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are soft and tender. Add meat, thyme, allspice, pepper and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until meat is brown and breaks apart, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Squeeze all water out of bread and tear into tiny pieces. Add this to mixture and stir well. Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove some the of meat mixture and set aside for gravy. Using remaining mixture, stuff Bell peppers and place in a deep baking dish.
Heat olive oil in deep saucepan and add Bell pepper, onion, celery, green onions and garlic which has been set aside. Saute until tender over medium heat. Add 4 cups meat mixture and stir well. Add tomato sauce and water. Cover, reduce heat to low-medium and cook for 30 minutes or until gravy becomes slightly thick. This gravy should not be as thick as regular red gravy. Pour gravy into baking dish with peppers. Make sure that you pour some of the gravy on top of each pepper. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until Bell peppers are tender. To serve, place cooked angel hair pasta on plate. Spoon meat gravy onto pasta, place one pepper on individual plate with pasta and pass the Parmesan cheese.

I actually got the recipe from the internet (i forgot where exactly) but altered it a bit to suit my taste. I got so excited about eating it that I forgot to take a picture. Besides hubby was already hungry as well so we just dug in after it got cooked. We were even able to give our neighbors some because I cooked way too many for just the two of us.