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I have no idea why I waited so long to make this dish; it is the perfect comfort meal. I’m trying not to eat carbs but for the men of the household I cooked ½ a cup of rice to add to the stuffing mixture. This is my normal bolognaise recipe. If you don’t have enough time to do the peppers, replace them with some spaghetti. This recipe looks long, but it is so easy to make.

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INGREDIENTS

4 large peppers, preferably red and yellow
½ cup rice, rinsed

For the mince:
500 g lean beef mince
1 large stick of celery, chopped
1 large carrot
4 cloves garlic
1 red onion
1 brown onion
2 red chillies
Fresh parsley
1 tin of tomatoes
1 sachet of tomato paste
1 tsp xylitol
1 glass of good red wine
Sea salt & black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
Parmesan Cheese, grated

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EQUIPMENT

1 Food processor with blade attachment
1 large pot
1 large saucepan
1 large shallow dish

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METHOD

Serves 4
Preparation 15 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour 20 minutes

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In the food processor finely chop the carrots, once they are chopped add the onions, celery (roughly chop beforehand) a tiny handful of parsley and garlic.

Place the saucepan on high heat and add a generous glug of olive oil. Add the chopped ingredients, salt and pepper and sauté for 7 minutes. Then add the oregano and dried chilli flakes. Once sediment has started forming on the bottom of the pan add the tomato paste and fry for 2 minutes, then add the red wine and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Once the wine has reduced, add the mince and break it down with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5 minutes, until turned colour. Add the tinned tomato, xylitol and chopped chillies. Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the mince is cooking, place the rinsed rice in a small pot with 1 cup of boiling water and a generous pinch of salt. Put the lid on, when the rice starts boiling, turn the heat right down and cook for 15 minutes- set a timer. Once the timer has gone off, switch off the heat and steam for another 15 minutes, don’t lift the lid.

Preheat the oven to 190C and boil the kettle.

Cut the tops off peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Rinse peppers under cold water. Place peppers in a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes. Drain peppers and set aside.

For those of you who don’t eat crabs, spoon the mince into the peppers and place them into the shallow dish. For the others, add the rest of the mince into the rice pot, mix and spoon the mixture into the peppers. Place them into the dish. Pour a tiny bit of water into the dish. Place in the oven for 25 minutes.

After they have been cooking for 25 minutes, top the peppers with the grated Parmesan and cook for a further 3-5 minutes.