Stuffed Pepper Soup

Sunday seemed like a soup day.  I found this delicious new soup to try that came together pretty quickly from the Cozy Cook.  Just needed a few fresh ingredients but it was pretty pantry ready. Our grocery store did not have green bell peppers in stock so we used the italian bell or frying pepper. The idea of adding the rice as you serve it so it didn't absorb all of the liquid was a great tip.  I guess I hadn't thought of that with other recipes.  Give this a try.

Ingredients

Seasonings

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon mustard powder

½ teaspoon onion powder

1 pinch red pepper flakes

Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ¼ lb. ground beef, 90% lean

1 yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt/Pepper, to taste

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 cups beef broth

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, (optional)

Rice

1 ½ cups chicken broth

3/4 cups white long grain rice, uncooked. (Or 2 ¼ cups cooked rice.)

Instructions

Note: The rice is cooked separately in this recipe to ensure that it doesn’t soak up too much broth in the soup. This allows leftover soup and rice to be stored separately as well, as the rice continues to soak up broth during storage. This soup freezes very well, the rice can also be frozen in a separate storage container.

Prepare the Soup: Heat the olive oil in a 4 ½ quart soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook and crumble it for 3 minutes. Add the onions and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the beef is brown and cooked through. Drain grease. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and season with salt/pepper, toss to coat.

Add the diced bell peppers and let them soften for 3 minutes.

Add the seasonings, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Stir to combine, then add the beef/chicken broth.

Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook the Rice: Add 1 ½ cups chicken broth to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the rice and submerge it in the liquid. Bring back to a boil. Cover tightly and reduce to a gentle simmer, cook for 15 minutes. Turn heat off. Let the rice sit in the pot, covered, for 10 full minutes. Any rice stuck to the bottom will release during this time. This will yield 2 ¼ cups of flavorful rice. Note: Other varieties of rice can be used and will require different amounts of liquid and simmering time. (Refer to package for instructions.)

Serve: Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the shredded cheese, (if using).

Spoon the rice into serving bowls and ladle soup on top. If you don’t anticipate leftovers, you can add the rice right to the soup pot. Serve!