Gluten Free Bolognese Stuffed Peppers

Tonight on the menu is..... Gluten Free Bolognese Stuffed Peppers!

Stuffed peppers are one of my favourite things. I love peppers when they've been roasted and I also love Bolognese. So this is why I've put this on the menu for today.

I think this is a fairly straight forward recipe that doesn't take much effort, but is quite a tasty and satisfying meal.

I've not used any shop bought sauces in jars, as personally I don't like to use these (I'm not saying that I never use anything from a jar), as you don't know all of the ingredients that go into them. I know a lot of people use these for convenience and some people like the flavour, but I think that for not much more time and effort, you make a home made sauce that tastes really good and you'll know exactly what is going into your sauce! Lots of the sauces in jars in the supermarkets have hidden gluten in them, I've been caught out on a few occasions with this.

The peppers turned out really well, were moist with just enough sauce to make sure they aren't too dry. At the same time, they didn't have that much sauce that it spilled over the side.

The ingredients:

500 g minced beef *

4 bell peppers - cut in half length ways and de-seeded **

1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic - minced / chopped***

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1/2 onion - chopped

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1 teaspoon of sugar

1 - 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1 gluten free beef stock cube

A good pinch of paprika

1 teaspoon of mixed herbs

2 handfuls of grated cheese

Salt and Pepper

* I used British mince, as I'm trying to use more British products

** I don't tend to use green peppers in recipes like this, as I don't like the flavour as much

*** Minced if you use a garlic press, or chopped finely if you don't

Method

1. Put a frying pan on a medium heat and add the oil
2. Put the chopped onions in the pan and cook for approximately 5 minutes until the onions start to soften but not colour
3. Add the garlic to the pan and stir to stop from burning
4. Add the minced beef to the pan and cook the minced meat until this is browned (feel free to blot the pan a little with a kitchen town to get rid of some of the excess fat)
5. Tip the chopped tomatoes into the pan
6. Cook the tomatoes out for a couple of minutes in the pan and add the tomato paste
7. Crumble the stock cube into the pan, add the sugar, the mixed herbs, paprika and balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper to the pan and mix until the stock cube and sugar have dissolved. Please make sure you change the seasoning, add a little more balsamic vinegar if it is a little too sweet. If it is is a not sweet enough, please add more sugar.
8. Cook on a low heat for about 15 minutes. Turn the oven on and preheat to 200 C.
9. Fill the half peppers with the bolognese mixture and put onto a baking tray.
10. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, sprinkling over the cheese approximately 2 minutes before the end.

On a final note, how do you feel about the pre-made shop bought sauces in jars? Do you use these a lot during cooking or do you prefer to make your own?