Peperoni Ripieni alla Giada

As much as I find Giada De Laurentis hard to like (could it be the overly juicy sounds of her show, her "just like that" annoying phrase, or her tiny body? hard to choose), I bought one of her books at a discounted price and today I used 5 of her recipes (well with some variations). It was my weekly day of cooking for one of my clients and I ended up choosing all recipes from her book Giada's Kitchen. This recipe turned out pretty easy and really beautiful and to make it a complete meal I paired it with roasted chicken drumsticks. This recipe gave me a chance to work with bell peppers that I normally don't use at home since I can't digest them.

I also made an eggplant timbale, gratin of manicotti stuffed with radicchio and ricotta, shrimp pasta with asparagus, and beef hamburgers with cous-cous and zucchini.

Orzo Stuffed Peppers
adapter from Giada's Kitchen

1 (28-oz.) can chopped tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, grated
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 provolone cheese, grated
1/2 pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
6 bell peppers
basil leaves for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 400F

Sautée the minced garlic in olive oil, add the grated zucchini and cook few minutes until soft, add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Cook the orzo pasta in the broth for 4 minutes, undercooking it a little. Drain and reserve the broth, and stir the drained orzo into the tomato mixture. Add the salt, pepper, provolone cheese and parsley. Cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and the ribs. Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers and place them in a baking dish. Pour some of the reserved broth halfway into the dish, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, add the pecorino or parmesan cheese and cook 15 more minutes. Transfer onto a serving dish, sprinkle with basil and serve immediately.