Peppers stuffed with meat, rice and cheese

A while ago the local Albertsons had a crazy ground beef sale -it was such a good deal it sent me into a crazy buying frenzy. So aftern making burgers, meatloaf and chili I still ended up with a freezer full of ground sirloin, which is good if you don't need to put anything else in there. Last night I decided to get rid of some of the meat and made a recipe my grandma used to make. Now one thing about my grandma is that she never wrote down her recipes, so I kinda had to wing it, but I have to say that I was very satisfied with the result.

STUFFED PEPPERS:

1/4 cup long-grain rice
2 medium bell peppers
1/2 pound ground sirloin
1 chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 cups bottled tomato pasta sauce
1/2 cup grated fresh Romano cheese
1/2 cup dry red wine
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450°.

Cook rice according to directions and set aside.

Cut tops off bell peppers, discard seeds and membranes and set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion, paprika, salt and allspice and cook until beef is lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat. Add cooked rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, and cheese to beef mixture. Stir to combine.

Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce and wine in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Be careful not to overcook it!

Spoon beef mixture into each pepper. Place peppers in a baking dish coated with cooking spray and add wine mixture to pan. Cover with foil.

Bake at 450° for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.