Stuffed Pepper Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 tsp. + 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped fairly small
• 1 T Italian Herb Blend
• 2 large green bell peppers, stems and seeds removed and chopped into pieces about 5/8 inch across
• 8 oz. brown Crimini mushrooms, washed if needed and then cut in half or fourths
• 3 links hot turkey Italian sausage
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 2 cans crushed tomatoes + 2 cans water
• 3 cans beef broth
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• freshly-grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions

Cook long-grain white rice (I used Uncle Ben’s Converted Rice) according to package instructions to make 2 cups cooked rice. (I used my beloved rice cooker – affiliate link.)Heat 2 tsp. oil in a large frying pan, add chopped onion and saute over medium high heat until the onion is barely browned on the edges.Add Italian Herb Blend (I like Italian Herb Blend from The Spice House, and cook 1-2 minutes more.Add onion to soup pot. (I used an 8 quart soup pot for this, but it could have been a little smaller.)In the same frying pan, add the chopped green pepper and saute until the edges have a slight char.Add peppers to soup pot.Then add the mushrooms to the same pan and cook until mushrooms release their liquid and are slightly browned.Add mushrooms to soup pot.Add the other 2 tsp. olive oil to the pan along with the ground beef and the sausage which you’ve squeezed out of the casing.Cook the meat until it’s nicely browned, turning several times and breaking apart with the back of the turner.Add browned meat to the soup pot along with the crushed tomatoes, 2 cans water, 3 cans beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and ketchup (I use Heinz reduced-sugar ketchup).Bring soup to a low simmer, then cook on low about 30 minutes.Add the rice and cook 15 minutes more, adding a little more water if you think it’s needed.Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper and serve hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table if desired.