Unstuffed Peppers Easy Stovetop One Pot Casserole
Replicate the taste and texture of stuffed peppers without all the effort or wasted heat/gas (money).
Equipment
- 1 Pot with a lid for simmering
- 1 Knife
Ingredients
UNSTUFFED PEPPERS CASSEROLE
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 2-4 ea mixed peppers enough to cover the bottom of your pot twice (so you have 2 layers of peppers
- ½ cup tomatoes diced
- ½ cup tomato paste
- 1 tbsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp basil dry
- 1 tsp oregano dry and ground
- 1 tsp paprika regular sweet paprika, not smoked.
- 1 tsp parsley dry
- ¼ tsp thyme dry
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup water add another ½ cup water if there's not enough liquid
- ½ cup rice brown cooked
- ½ cups lentils cooked brown or green
NOTZZARELLA SAUCE
- ¼ cups oat flour
- 2 tbsp rice flour sticky brown rice flour, ideally
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast optional and avoid fortified if you want a white color (I rarely add it)
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp garlic granules
- ⅛ tsp celery seeds ground
- ½ tbsp sunflower seed butter I suggest tahini if you aren't allergic as it makes it more creamy
- 1.5 tbsp white vinegar
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Slice your peppers into 6 sections and remove the stems and seeds (I keep the pith/ribs because they are healthy and not worth the extra work).
- Add your onions to a pot on high heat and dry sauté them until they caramelize and soften. Reserve them for later.
- On high heat add your second/last layer to your pot first, skin side down, and cook them for about 2-5 minutes until they have some good color on the bottom (avoid full char as it's not healthy/carcinogenic). Flip them onto the flesh side and cook them for a minute or two until they soften or get some color. Now do the same with your first layer.
- Mix your tomato sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook on low, uncovered, for about 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce thickens up a little bit.
- Once your sauce has thickened up a bit you can add your cooked lentils (and rice), then gently fold them into the tomato sauce while avoiding disturbing the bottom layer of peppers. Cover the top with your second layer of peppers, using a spoon pressing them down into the sauce so they are just covered then replace the lid and simmer for 2-5 minutes while you mix the Notzzarella sauce.
- Remove the lid and spoon on your Notzzarella sauce covering most areas, then cover with the lid to simmer/steam the Notzzarella sauce for 5 more minutes or until the Notzzarella sauce firms up a bit.
- Turn off the heat and wait until simmering stops, then slice your Unstuffed Peppers Casserole into 4 (or more) pieces and use a wooden spoon or an off-set spatula to serve slices of the Unstuffed Peppers Casserole. Garnish with parsley or fresh basil.
