Peppers with a slight kick to them, like the cubanellas or banana peppers suggested at left, are wonderful for this dish. If you can’t find those, choose the long, thin-skinned peppers often sold as “Italian frying peppers” in supermarkets. You can serve the peppers alone or with a side of rigatoni, dressed with some of the sauce from the stuffed-pepper baking dish, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil. This is a favorite dish at Becco, our restaurant in New York’s Theater District.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　1/3 cup Arborio rice

　　Salt

　　8 cubanella or banana peppers or other long, thin-fleshed peppers, each about 6 inches long

　　3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

　　1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

　　8 ounces ground meat (see note below)

　　1 large egg

　　1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

　　3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

　　2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

　　3 cups (or as needed) Tomato Sauce (page 151) or sauce that accompanies Chicken Parmigiana, New-Style (page 266)

　　

Step 1

Cook the Arborio rice in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente—tender but fi—about 12 minutes. Drain and cool to room temperature.

　　

Step 2

While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 400° F, prepare the peppers, and start the filling: Cut the stems from the peppers and scrape out the seeds and membranes with a teaspoon. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 4 minutes. Scrape the onion into a mixing bowl, add the ground meat, egg, grated cheese, parsley, oregano, and cooked rice, and stir together until evenly blended.

　　

Step 3

Divide the filling among the peppers, using about 1/4 cup to fill each pepper loosely. Rub the outside of the peppers lightly with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, placing them in a 13 × 9–inch baking dish as you do so. Roast the peppers, turning once or twice with tongs, until softened and lightly browned in spots, about 20 minutes.

　　

Step 4

Pour in enough of the tomato sauce barely to cover the peppers. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove, and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

　　Cooks' Note

　　A mix of ground beef, pork, and veal is best, but that might not be practical. Try at least to use a blend of ground pork and beef, but, failing that, all ground beef or pork will do.

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.