Name: Slow-Cooker Stuffed Peppers
Total time: 4 h 30 min
Ingredients: 4 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers; 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 3/4 cup Arborio rice; 8 ounces hot Italian sausage, casings removed; 2 onions, chopped fine; 6 garlic cloves, minced; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; Salt and pepper; 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes; 2 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 1/4 cups); 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Why This Recipe Works

Try cooking a stuffed pepper in a slow cooker, and chances are you’ll get a mealy, slumped pepper that spills its soggy, bland rice filling. Our first plan of attack was to amp up the flavor. Adding a bold tomato sauce to the slow cooker seasoned the peppers as they cooked, and stirring a small amount of the sauce into the filling provided an additional punch of flavor. As for the rice, Arborio, our go-to for risotto, turned creamy, not mushy, in the filling, unlike spindly long-grain.

Instructions

Working one at a time, cut off top 1/2 inch of bell peppers. Discard stem and seeds. Chop pepper tops into 1/4-inch pieces; reserve pepper cups. Microwave broth and rice in covered large bowl until liquid is absorbed and rice is nearly tender, 13 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook sausage in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up meat into small pieces, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towel–lined plate.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet. Add onions and chopped pepper and cook until browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes, bring to boil, and remove from heat.

Combine 1 cup sauce, sausage, and 1 cup Parmesan with parcooked rice. Transfer remaining sauce to slow cooker. Using skewer, poke 4 holes in bottom of each reserved pepper cup. Fill each pepper with one-quarter of rice mixture and place upright in slow cooker. Top peppers with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cover and cook on low until peppers and rice are tender, 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

Transfer peppers to plate. Stir basil into sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over peppers. Serve.