Home, Homemade on the Range

I’m ever the devotee of cabbage and its famous history in making meals feel like comfort food.

Stuffing peppers is old-time kitchen hugging time. The ingredients are humble, the flavors smack of umami. I tweaked this recipe to eliminate cooked rice and limited the liquid. The result is a firmer, just moist enough version to enjoy with fork and knife.

Adjust to your liking with rice, cabbage, or other cooked veggies.

Enjoy with garlic toast and a salad and bring comfort and joy to the table.

INGREDIENTS: Select wide and straight peppers of equal size

SERVES 3-4

• olive oil – 1 TBS
• ground beef – 1 LB 80-20  
• salt – 1 tsp
• pepper – 1/2 tsp
• onion – 1 cup, minced
• garlic – 2 TBS, minced 
• cabbage – 10 oz, [3 cups], finely chopped 
• Italian herb blend – 2 tsp [or other blends]
• marinara sauce – 1 1/2 cups + more to top peppers
• bell peppers – 3 large, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, stemmed
• Parmesan – 1 cup, grated [or mozzarella or pecorino]

INSTRUCTIONS: Dry fit your cut peppers into a casserole. If you need to fill empty space in the pan, put some potatoes in to piggyback cook them

1. Sauté the beef in the olive oil until pink is cooked out; add salt and pepper then remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon
2. Strain off all but 2-3 TBS of fat and add the onion and cook on medium until beginning to brown; add int the garlic and cabbage and continue to cook for 6-8 minutes until again beginning to brown
3. Add the Italian seasoning and marinara and combine well and the cooked beef
4. Oil a casserole just large enough to hold the peppers in a single layer
5. Spoon filling equally and press into each pepper half; add a spoonful of marinara onto each pepper
6. Bake at 350º for 45 minutes, then sprinkle on parmesan and broil for about 3-4 minutes until cheese begins to brown

© 2026 B. Hettig