Lasagna Stuffed Peppers

Lately, it's been pretty crazy, and cooking-wise, I've been pretty lazy.

So here's my number...call me maybe?

Damn that song!

Anyways, I figured I'd get back into cooking since I'm long overdue.

I was craving stuffed peppers today, and the best ones are the traditional ones my mom makes. But, instead of asking her to make them, which would mean an extra trip to grocery store and all, I figured I'd make them myself. But of course, when I make something, I tend to get all fancy and never settle for the basic way. I started looking up recipe ideas for stuffed peppers, and then I kind of got hungry for lasagna. I've been trying to be a little more healthy lately, so I thought, why not just put the lasagna ingredients inside of a pepper. Swap out the carb-heavy pasta for peppers. I'm a genius sometimes, I know.

I also already have something planned for tomorrow night with ground beef, so I went with lean ground turkey for these to make it even more healthy. I also had leftover pasta sauce in the fridge to use...it was quite a productive dinner - reducing calories, costs, and waste! I don't know why I'm so excited about this, but I am proud of myself when I use leftovers...they tend to sit in my fridge forever and then I get really frustrated when I see them and they've gone bad.

For the filling I used my go-to lasagna filling, minus the egg. Just ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and salt and pepper.

Lasagna Stuffed Peppers
from me!

3 large green bell peppers, halved lengthwise and cleaned out
1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 (15 oz.) container of part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh shredded Parmesan
1/2 tbsp. oregano
1/2 tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2-2.5 cups of pasta sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Brown the ground turkey in a skillet and drain when finished.
3. In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, Parmesan, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
4. Pour the cheese mixture into the browned turkey and mix to combine.
5. Place a small scoop of turkey mix into the bottom of each pepper.
6. Top with about 1/4 cup of pasta sauce. Repeat layers.
7. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
8. Top each pepper with some mozzarella cheese and place under the broiler for about 2 minutes until cheese melts.

Sorry for the terrible range lighting...

Repeat one more time...

Yumminess.