Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Stuffed Pepper Soup


Anyone who has suffered a significant loss, as in my case a spouse, knows how difficult the holidays can be. I try to stay enormously busy so that I don't think about the fact that my husband is now gone.

The other day I started thinking about our first couple of Christmases together. They were busy, they were stressful, but they were so much fun! After we celebrated Christmas ourselves, and then with my family and extended family at my mother's traditional Christmas Day brunch, we would hop onto a plane and head to New Jersey to visit Jim's friends and family. It was always a busy and festive time.

During our Eastern holiday, we always spent a day in New York soaking up all of the Christmas atmosphere, and then would head to Jim's sister’s house in Red Bank where we took up residence for the remainder of our trip. I always liked visiting Red Bank, enjoying particularly walking the length of Broad Street, viewing all of the festive decorations.

It was often flurrying and very cold, so we would duck into a local restaurant for a warming drink and a cup of soup. During one of our visits, we stopped in a place called Murphy Style Grill, where we both enjoyed the soup of the day that happened to be a stuffed pepper soup. I particularly enjoyed it, and even went so far as to contact Bon Appétit magazine to see if they could get the recipe to no avail.

The other day as I was looking at the peppers in my crisper, and box of Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice in my cupboard, I got to thinking about that soup, and I got an idea! I was going to trying to recapture that wonderful time and come up with my own recipe.

I know that, as with cilantro, there are people who either really like peppers or really don't. I fall into the former category, I love them, and have since I was a little girl, salting them and eating them over the sink while still warm after my dad had brought some in from the garden. Whether you're a pepper fan, or not, this is a tasty, hearty, warming and soothing soup, that is perfect for the upcoming winter.
Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 pound ground chuck
1/2 teaspoon Montréal steak seasoning

5 to 6 cups water
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 ½ cups chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon beef soup base

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 6.8-ounce box of Rice-A-Roni Spanish rice
1-1 ½ cups heavy cream

In a 10-inch skillet over medium heat, brown ground chuck, seasoned with steak seasoning, until crumbly. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Place ground meat into the bottom of a six-quart slow cooker that has been sprayed with Pam. Place other ingredients, in the order listed, on top of the ground meat; stir to combine. Cook on high 4 to 5 hours until rice is done. Stir in heavy cream, adding more or less depending upon desired thickness. Ladle into bowls, and top with chopped parsley, cilantro, or crumbled feta or bleu cheese.

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9 comments:

Alycia Nichols said...

Mmmm...I’ll bet this tastes really good! I fall somewhere in the middle of loving and disliking green peppers. Ive never been able to bite into them for large pieces. I like them finely chopped up, so this soup would totally work for me! Ramon loves stuffed green peppers, so maybe this would be a good compromise!

Wendy said...

Going to try this out, looks yummy.

martinealison said...

Bonjour chère amie,

Dame Automne a invité Dame Hiver depuis deux jours et votre soupe serait la bienvenue.

Gros bisous 🌸

gluten Free A_Z Blog said...

Stuffed Pepper Soup sounds wonderful. My mother always made stuffed peppers and we devoured them. I love the taste of the green pepper as it blends with the flavors when cooking.

Miz Helen said...

This will be a fantastic soup with so much flavor! Your post is awesome and thanks so much for sharing it with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen

Unknown said...

Pinned!! YUMMY!!

I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

Miz Helen said...

Congratulations!
Your post is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Thanks so much for sharing your post with us, we have pinned it to our Featured Board. Enjoy your new Red Plate and have a great week!
Miz Helen

The Cape Coop said...

This looks so delicious & comforting! Thanks for sharing on Homestead Blog Hop :)

The Lazy Gastronome said...

What a great idea!! It sounds wonderful - Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party!