Stuffed Peppers for the feast of St. John Bosco

From Catholic Culture: "If you feel brave, try cooking the stuffed raw peppers suggested for today. Mama Margaret probably cooked Peperoni farciti à la Piemontaise (peppers stuffed with boiled rice), a speciality from Turin, for St. John Bosco's boys."

Today I'll be making stuffed peppers for dinner in honor of St. John Bosco. I made these last year and even my picky eaters loved them. I hope you try them. They are delicious!

Stuffed Peppers

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
1 cup water
6 green bell peppers
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place the rice and water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook 20 minutes. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly browned.

Remove and discard the tops, seeds, and membranes of the bell peppers. Arrange peppers in a baking dish with the hollowed sides facing upward. (Slice the bottoms of the peppers if necessary so that they will stand upright.)

In a bowl, mix the browned beef, cooked rice, 1 can tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Spoon an equal amount of the mixture into each hollowed pepper. Mix the remaining tomato sauce and Italian seasoning in a bowl, and pour over the stuffed peppers.

Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, basting with sauce every 15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

Top with Cheddar cheese.

Update:  Here is a picture of the above recipe, which I recently made for my family, substituting red peppers for the green.  It is a favorite! God bless, Jessica