Pork and Rosemary Stuffed Peppers

I remember the day I discovered the Game Show Network.  I spent hours watching back to back episodes of retro Press your Luck (No Whammies!), Super Password (with that creepy whisper-y voice) and Family Feud (I enjoy episodes featuring all four hosts).  I then introduced the channel to my grandmother, and we would watch the shows together after school.  I am not sure she enjoyed this as much as I did, but she was a good grandmother and humored me.

My favorite shows were the winning combo of $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramids.  A quick run through of how this one worked in case you were doing more important things between the years of 1973 and 1988:  two contestants are paired up with two celebrities (usually the most popular soap opera actor at the time) and a category is chosen by each pair.  Words or phrases associated with that category are described by one player, without saying the word, and the other partner has to name the word being described.  Each word guessed correctly equals a point.  The non-celebrity player with the most points win.  An example of a category could be "Twinkle, Twinkle" and then a clue would be "Something in the sky" and the answer would be "Little Star!" but it has to be yelled enthusiastically and in a staccato-like fashion.  You would now have one point and would go on to guess things like "Your child's eyes," "Christmas lights," etc. -- all from clever clues your partner shouts at you. 

I used to play along by turning my back to the TV so I couldn't see the word printed at the bottom and try to guess it before the actual players in the studio could.  I'm sure my grandmother found this just precious.  

When I made this recipe, I thought about how timely it was considering these peppers are stuffed just like turkeys and stockings and other holiday items like my festive skinny jeans (particularly stuffed after all the food I eat).  This made me naturally start shouting random words to Robbie like "Thanksgiving turkeys!", "Christmas Stockings!", "Bell Peppers!" until he got up and left the room.  If only he could have heard the game show theme playing in my head and he would have realized the appropriate response would have been "Things that are stuffed!"  But not everyone spent a large percentage of the afternoons during their youth watching the Game Show Network.  Their loss.  Literally -- Robbie has zero points in this game.

Pork and Rosemary Stuffed Peppers

From Nigel Slater's Tender

1 large onion, chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 bushy sprigs of rosemary

2 large tomatoes, chopped

12 ounces chopped pork

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

5 - 6 medium sized bell peppers

Freshly grated Parmesan

Bring a pot of water to boil. While water is boiling, cut your peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and white parts.  Drop your peppers in batches into the boiling water and boil until slightly limp, about six minutes.  Set pepper halves onto a baking sheet, skin side down.  Pour oil into a saute pan and saute your onion until softened. Remove the stems from the rosemary leaves and chop. Add the minced garlic and rosemary to the onion mixture until soft and fragrant. Stir the tomatoes into the mixture.  Cook for another few minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the minced pork and breadcrumbs.  Cook for a few more minutes until the pork is slightly browned.  Remove from the heat.  Divide the mixture into all the pepper halves.  Drizzle with olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese.  Cook for 35 minutes or until desired doneness.