Last week I had a bag of bell peppers from Costco that was on its way out. The peppers were starting to wrinkle, so I knew I would need to cook them down somehow. This casserole turned out great, and kept well for lunches throughout the rest of the week. I decided to omit rice from the casserole so that I could go without if I wanted to, but ended up eating it served over some instant rice every time I went back to these leftovers.

I started by dicing a yellow onion and softening those in some olive oil before adding the ground turkey to the pot to brown. Next, I added the diced bell peppers and let everything sauté on medium heat until the peppers began to soften. Then, I added minced garlic (measure with your heart, I added 5 large cloves), a jar of tomato puree, a can of petite diced tomatoes (not drained), and a small can of diced green chiles.

As this concoction came to a simmer over medium heat, I raided the spice cabinet and pulled out anything I thought might bring some dimension to the dish. Primarily, I wanted to bring out the flavor of the peppers and the tomato, add a little heat, and create a little smokiness, so I pulled out salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, aleppo pepper, and chipotle chili powder.

Since this was a bit of an experiment, I didn’t use exact measurements. I seasoned and tasted along the way, adjusting as needed for my personal preferences. I’ll estimate the amounts used of each in the ingredient list at the end of this post. I was liberal with the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cumin. Some of the people in my house are a little more heat sensitive than I am, so I was a bit more careful with the chipotle chili powder and the aleppo pepper. Aleppo pepper has been a great substitute for red chili flakes when I know I need to go easy on the heat.

After seasoning the mixture and letting it all simmer together (still over medium heat), I filled my casserole dish with the mixture, topped it with some sliced mozzarella and put it under the low broiler long enough to let the cheese melt. I served it over some instant rice, and dished the leftovers into individual servings for lunches for the week. This dish held up really well throughout the week as leftovers!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 5 bell peppers
• 1 can fire-roasted petite diced tomatoes
• 1 jar tomato puree
• 1 small can diced green chilis
• mozzarella cheese (I used pre-sliced, shredded would also work)
• 2 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. aleppo pepper
• 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste